Creamy Butternut Squash Risotto is your new Fall Favorite

Why it belongs on your menu:

Butternut squash, to me, is the the very embodiment of fall flavors. Roasted with warm fall spices like cinnamon or cardamom or allspice to accent their sweetness and you have the base for a lot of different dishes. Butternut squash as a soup, or stuffed into flakey, buttery puff pastry and topped with goat cheese and spiced honey, or part of a hearty fall salad with candied nuts and crunchy lettuce and a cider-mustard vinaigrette. All of these dishes would make me want to pop over to your house for a bite.

However, this butternut squash risotto holds a special place in my heart because it really elevates this humble vegetable into something special. Risotto with layers of flavor and this creamy sauce that is oh-so-memorable. And I make a lot of risotto. Summer, Spring, whatever season I’ve got a risotto dish I like to make. But this fall risotto is probably my favorite….

Fall Dinner Party: What to Serve with it:

What goes well with this butternut squash risotto? Well I’m glad you asked. Here’s a menu that I think works really well and has some do ahead steps. This assumes you are serving this butternut squash risotto as a side dish If you are serving it as an appetizer and part of an appetizer menu then I’d suggest the second menu.

With Butternut Squash Risotto as a side dish

• Appetizer – Slow Roasted Grape Crostini with honey, whiskey, lemon and thyme
• Fall Caesar Salad with Roasted Pumpkin seeds & Rosemary Croutons
• Butternut Squash Risotto with Pancetta & Fried Sage
• Cider Brined Pork Chops
• Pumpkin Mini-Bundt Cakes with Maple Frosting

As part of an ‘Appetizers Menu’

• Appetizer – Slow Roasted Grape Crostini with honey, whiskey, lemon and thyme
• Butternut Squash Risotto with Pancetta & Fried Sage
• Bacon wrapped Dates
• Fall roasted veggies platter with hummus

Butternut Squash Risotto Ingredients:

• 3 ½ cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed
• 1 ½ Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 teaspoon cardamom
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• Pinch of ground cinnamon
• Salt & Pepper
• 6 slices of pancetta
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 cup Arborio rice
• 4 1/2 – 5 cups chicken stock
• ½ cup dry white wine
• ½ yellow onion diced
• ½ cup parmesan cheese
• 2 Teaspoons crème fraiche
• Salt and pepper
• 4-5 Sage leaves
• 1 ½ Tablespoons unsalted butter

Method:

Roast the Squash

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  In a large bowl place the cubed squash with the olive oil and spices and coat well.  Place on a baking sheet and bake for 25-35 minutes until tender.  Remove from oven and let cool.  Can be made up to a day ahead of time and refrigerated.  Rewarm before adding to the rice.

Cook Risotto

1. Place the chicken stock in a medium sauce pan and heat over low.
2.  In a medium, heavy bottomed sauce pan place 1 Tablespoon of butter and 1 Tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.  Once the butter just melts add in the diced onion and cook for about 4 minutes until translucent.  Add in the rice. Cook until all the rice is coated with oil and rice is turning a little opaque, approximately 3 minutes.
3.  Add in the white wine (carefully) give it stir and cook until the white wine is just absorbed.  Next add in 1 cup of hot chicken stock and cook, continuing to stir as the rice slowly starts to absorb the liquid.  Each time the stock is just about absorbed add in another cup of hot chicken stock.  Again, don’t forget to stir!  Towards the very end add in about 1/2 of the roasted squash and incorporate. The whole process should take about 22 minutes and the rice should end up with a little stock still in it (not dry) and definitely not mushy.  Be careful not to overcook.
4.  Remove from heat and add in remaining 3 Tablespoons of unsalted butter, Parmesan cheese & crème fraiche.  Fold in the last of the squash and adjust seasoning on salt & pepper as desired.  Serve immediately.

Assembly

1. In a medium sauté pan melt the butter over medium heat and add in the sage leaves.  Cook until crisp but not burned.  Remove from pan and pat dry with a paper towel.
2.  Re crisp the pancetta if cooked earlier.
3.  Place the risotto in small shot glasses, a large bowl, or in the roasted mini-pumpkins.  Top with crumbled pancetta, crumbled sage and top with shaved Parmesan. *See notes below on presentation

Presentation:

As I mentioned, one reason I love this dish is that the presentation alone can really elevate the dish to spectacular. The flavors are all already there but the combination is unbeatable. How you present it really depends on the type of dinner party you are having.

As An Appetizer

If your party is more of a wine and apps gathering and you don’t want to serve a large portion these mini-shot glasses are perfect. The glass really shows the layers of goodness inside. All that beautiful roasted orange squash with the creamy rice and pancetta and then the touch of green from the sage.

To plate, simply fill the shot glasses and line them up on a white platter with some fresh sage arrange underneath the glasses and that’s all it takes. Small demitasse spoons are recommended. I bought these mini-shot glasses at World Market.

Here’s another cute option of bee-adorned shot glasses from SurLaTable that I love. A little more elegant.

And a plain white platter to arrange the shot glasses on is a good way to go or a marble and wood board would be nice as well.

Note: If you purchase an item from my affiliates, I receive a small compensation in return.

Side Dish or Main Course

For more of a sit-down dinner where you want to impress then I recommend finding medium pumpkins, removing the tops and scooping out the insides and the roasting them on a baking sheet until just tender. You can do all this ahead of time.

Note, the size of the pumpkins will depend on the portion size you want to serve guests. This presentation works especially well as a side dish. Or, you can buy a larger pumpkin and hallow it out and roast it serve it family style! Be sure to reserve the tops for an added layer of detail (no need to roast those).

Have fun with it. I can’t wait to hear what other ideas you’ve come up with for this simple but elegant dinner party idea.