I'll be honest: online personality Joshua Weissman and I probably wouldn't be besties in real life. But his knowledge and experience with food and cooking is something I can't help but respect. I can heartily recommend either of his cookbooks for anyone wanting to improve in the kitchen.
This is the first recipe I've tried from his new cookbook, Taste Over Texture. Being mid-November, I thought his Butternut Squash Risotto sounded perfect. The rice is indulgently creamy, the squash is a little sweet, the pancetta and Parmesan are salty, the sage is savory and herbaceous. This is a fantastic side dish to make during the autumn, including being a great gluten-free option for your Thanksgiving table!
NOTE: Josh has fine dining tendencies, carefully plating this risotto with a gentle sprinkle of fried pancetta and a single sage leaf placed delicately on top. Me? I want pancetta and sage evenly dispersed in every bite, so I simply chopped it all and folded it in!
If the reputation of risotto intimidates you, I'm here to tell you: it's not difficult, it just takes attention. To better understand, risotto uses the constant agitation of high-starch Arborio rice in hot broth over a longer period of time. This steadily releases that starch into the broth, resulting in a thick, creamy dish. The two important tasks for anyone making a risotto are a) constant stirring, and b) regular addition of more hot broth. Ladle in broth, stir. Ladle in more broth, keep stirring. If you can stir and ladle, you can make risotto! Just get all your ingredients ready to go, fire up a playlist or video on your phone, and dedicate yourself to the task of stirring at the stove for the full 30 required minutes. You can do this!
1 small butternut squash
5-6 C chicken stock
4 oz pancetta, diced
8-10 sage leaves
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
Oil of your choice, as needed (I used avocado oil)
1-1/2 C uncooked Arborio rice
1 TBSP butter
1/2 C Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, or more to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 450F. Halve the butternut squash lengthwise, remove the seeds, spray with oil, and roast in the oven until very soft, about 35-40 minutes.
Scrape out the squash flesh. Combine in a blender with 1/2 cup of the chicken broth until smooth and velvety.
In a pot over medium heat, cook the pancetta until crispy; remove with a slotted spoon to drain on a paper towel. Fry the sage leaves in the remaining pancetta fat until crispy and stiff (add more oil, if needed). Remove those to a paper towel, as well. Once cooled, chop them into bits.
In a separate saucepan, heat remaining chicken stock over medium heat.
In the pot with the remaining pancetta fat, sauté the onion and garlic in the remaining fat until they begin to soften. Add the rice and toast for 30 seconds, stirring occasionally.
While constantly stirring, ladle in about 1/3 cup of chicken stock to the rice mixture. Continue to stir until the rice has absorbed most of the liquid. Repeat this process, adding stock and constantly stirring, until the rice has reached al dente. This will take 25-30 minutes.
Add 2 cups of butternut squash puree and stir until it's warmed through. Remove from heat.
Fold in the butter and stir.
Stir in the pancetta and sage. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
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