Butternut Squash Risotto

Butternut Squash Purée

• Top and tail the squash, first cut crosswise into more manageable pieces. Make sure to place the squash flat on those sturdy cross sections when peeling. The skin is thick af, so securing the cutting board and the squash is important for 1) safety and 2) leverage. Peel cross sections, then halve lengthwise
  • Butternut squash is an awkwardly shaped, dense vegetable. This makes it difficult to peel and cut, so it is important to tackle this in the safest way possible
• Remove seeds and guts from the wider base section of the squash
• Dice cross sections into ~1/2 inch cubes
  • The smaller you dice the squash, the faster it will cook
• In a large sauté pan over med-high heat, melt 3 tbs butter, add squash, add salt and stir to coat squash with butter
• Cover pan partially with foil... YES I said foil
  • Foil allows steam to escape as opposed to covering entirely with a lid, where steam condensates and then dilutes the squash... no watery squash up in here
• Cook until tender… well, what the fuck does tender mean? Chill I'll tell you, it should be cooked to the point where you can insert the tip of a knife into the vegetable with very little resistance.. ~20-25 minutes
  • It is very important to adjust the heat and stir the squash so to prevent caramelization. We are not trying to put any color on these squash, we just want them to be cooked
• Once finished, transfer squash and any liquid into blender ASAP... blending while hot will ensure a smooth, velvety consistency
• Along with the squash, add cream, more salt and blend to desired consistency
  • *The puree should be a light, velvety consistency that you can pour... if that makes sense? Idk roll with it I'm sure you'll be fine *

Mise En Place

• Finely dice (or brunoise) the shallot
• Grate parmesan
• Finely chop chives
• Bring chicken stock to a light simmer in a large stock pot

The Risotto

1. Add rice to medium/large pan… amount = thin layer that covers the entire surface of the pan (Sorry for the lack of precise measurement here)
2. Toast rice over med/hi heat (should be able to smell the rice toasting, make sure you keep it moving and don’t burn it, looking for grains to be slightly translucent on edges) ~3-4 minutes
3. Add shallots, stir in with the rice & sweat em (should be able to hear the shallots begin to sweat, if not the pan is not hot enough, crank that puppy up)
4. Sweat shallots until they become fragrant and look transparent… continue moving the rice and shallots around ~2-3 minutes
5. Deglaze the pan with white wine, should be SIZZLIN when it hits the pan... cook off the alcohol (amount = enough to thinly cover the surface area of the pan) ~1-2 minutes
6. Start feeding the rice chicken stock & stir consistently (~2oz per minute for ~20 minutes or until the rice is cooked, taste periodically, you are the risotto’s bitch for the next ~20 mins) ~20 minutes
7. When nearly cooked, add another dose of chicken stock before we flavor (I like to have more liquid when going into flavor time, puree and parmesan bind it and make it thicker and having that last bit of liquid allows for more control… its easier to make thicker than to thin it out)
8. Time to flavor that sucka...
   1. Add butternut squash puree & stir until well blended
   2. Add parmesan
   3. Add salt (we got this far, do not under season this bad boy, this is not the time to worry about your sodium intake)
   4. **Add butter, if you think it needs it
   5. Add chives
9. Plate immediately (get that off the pan as soon as its done)