Acorn Squash Risotto

Last month's food co-op order involved a plethora of acorn squash. I decided my only option was to introduce the boy to a use for squash that meshed with our love for risotto. Normally, one of our quick meals is store-bought Lundberg risotto, because it's easy, and he never fails to be interested in it. This time, though, we were taking it up a notch.

I found this recipe for Acorn Squash Risotto to be very inspiring. I made it my own by adding less squash for the boy, since he's still really sensitive to lots of fiber. I also added plenty of ginger to keep it spicy, since I had a stuffy nose at the time. I also made homemade chicken broth to make sure the dish was flavorful, and backed by those healing benefits of broth.

Risotto also gets a bad rap - "it's too challenging," "It takes too long to cook," "I'll burn it," "My mom said it was hard to make..." Et cetera, et cerera, blah blah blah. Well, the short answer is that risotto is warm and creamy, and actually is not too technically difficult. The trick is to stir often so that it doesn't stick to the bottom of your pan, but you do not have to stir the entire cooking time.

We added chicken and bacon on top (our favorite risotto toppings), and devoured it.

Acorn Squash Risotto

1 acorn squash
2-3 cups chicken broth
1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1/2 - 1 teaspoon ground (dried) ginger (this is more potent than fresh, so go easy)
3/4 cup Arborio rice (make sure your rice is Arborio - it has the right properties to end up so creamy)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. With your biggest, sharpest knife, and your muscley arms, slice the squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds, and lay the two halves face down in a baking dish that has some oil drizzled on it. You could even season the halves with salt and pepper before baking them. Bake them for 15-20 minutes, or until you can stick your knife in it's back (hmmm, no animosity here...) and it slides right through the tender squash. Remove from the oven and let them cool for a minute.

If your chicken broth is not fresh (either frozen, or from a can), put it on the stove to warm up.

Cook onion and garlic in a separate pan with a tablespoon of oil to keep them from sticking to the pan. Cook them until the onions are translucent and the house smells great. Stir in the rice, and let it toast with the onions and garlic for 2 minutes. Once the rice starts to brown just a little (careful - it goes from toasty to black real quick!), ladle in a few cups of broth. Then, you will simmer the broth with the risotto until it has almost evaporated.

After you have been simmering the rice and broth for about 10 minutes, measure out and add ground ginger to your tastes. Once the squash has cooled some, hold one half with a kitchen towel and scoop the toasty flesh out with the large spoon. Then you can mash it, chop it, or do as you please with it. Repeat with the second half. Add some of the chopped/mashed flesh to the cooking rice. You can reserve part of the squash to top the risotto after it's finished (I added extra to my serving).

Continue simmering and adding broth until it has mostly absorbed, and the rice doesn't taste crunchy anymore. It will look very creamy, especially with the added squash. This generally takes between 20 and 30 minutes.

Then, you can serve it with chopped green onions and parmesan cheese. I wished we had the real parmesan cheese when we ate this...but next time.