Sunday, November 1, 2009

Acorn Squash Risotto


Have I mentioned that I am in love with risotto? Especially in the pressure cooker? I think I have.

Today, it was even worth the blister on my thumb (from cutting and peeling and dicing a couple of acorn squash).

I am always looking for a good squash recipe. But the first gazillion acorn squash recipes you find are sliced and stuffed. Not really in the mood for that. But then I thought "risotto", and hit pay dirt.

My ending recipe was a combination of two found here and here. Now, you probably can't go wrong with Mario Batali (but really, he goes a little heavy on the butter). And the other one I just like because it's stored at www.cs.cmu.edu. So what are recipes doing in the computer science department at CMU? I dunno, but it's my alma mater, so I had to use it.

Acorn squash risotto
2 T olive oil, divided: $0.22
1 small acorn squash, peeled, seeded, and diced into 1/4 inch pieces: $2.00 (just a guess, we got this from the CSA)
1 onion, diced: 0.25
2 cups arborio rice: 2.50
1/2 cup white wine: 0.40
3.5 to 4 cups vegetable broth: 0.50 (I used water and a veggie broth cube)
1 T. butter: 0.06
1/2 cup grated parmesan: 0.63
salt and pepper to taste
Total: $6.56 for about 8 cups, or $0.82 per cup

Saute onion in 1 Tbsp olive oil in pressure cooker for about 5 min, until softening. Add squash and continue to cook, stirring, for 10 min.

Add rice and other Tbsp olive oil, and toast rice a bit. Add wine and broth. Put cover on pressure cooker and lock into place.

Bring to high pressure over high heat. Once at pressure, reduce heat to maintain high pressure. Cook for 5 min at high pressure.

Remove from heat, run under cold water (quick-release method). Stir. It might be pretty soupy. Add butter and parmesan and stir some more.

This was SOOOO delicious. Yum yum yum. I served it with baked chicken, baked marinated tofu, and salad.

3 comments:

Joanne said...

I adore risotto! And all things pumpkin/winter squash! Acorn squash is definitely tricky to cut. I actually try to avoid it and just go for butternut and buttercup. It makes my life easier. That skin is just INTENSE.

I can't believe the CS department had a risotto recipe. Too funny!

You might also like pumpkin mixed into polenta as an alternative to the sliced and stuffed squash recipes.

Marcia said...

Thanks for the tips! Yep, I much prefer butternut or delicata. But the CSA gave us acorn this week. I guess I know why most recipes just involve cutting in half...

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