In the life of anyone who is passionate about food, there’s a kind of conversion experience. A moment at the table, the cutting board, the kitchen sink, or perhaps the fridge door, in which the unadulterated deliciousness of life is suddenly, wholly revealed. Think of the first time you tasted a sun-dried tomato. The first oyster. Or the first perfectly ripe fig.
This risotto was such a moment for us. Cooking from a ‘recipe’ was something reserved for holidays and Sunday brunches, until we saw this recipe in the local newspaper, and tried it out on a cold October Saturday evening. I could even tell you what music was playing. It brought us to the local farmer’s market for the first time and inspired us to make our first chicken stock. I guess it was our first experience of slow food. (Risotto will teach you patience.) It set a new standard of excellence in our kitchen. That was about 6 years ago, and since then it’s become a signature dish we must have prepared 50 times. It’s something all of our friends have tasted, and that we will never tire of making. Consider this: I went to the best Italian restaurant in the city last year, ordered mushroom risotto, and was deeply disappointed. That’s how good this is.
Mushroom Risotto in Roasted Squash
Serves 4, with leftover risotto for lunch the next day
1 large delicata, small buttercup, or medium-sized acorn squash
olive oil
salt and pepper
2 C lardons
2 medium onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
15 medium-sized cremini mushrooms
1 oz. dried porcinis
2 C Arborio rice
½ C white vermouth
6 – 8 C hot chicken stock
3 tbsp. sweet butter
2/3 C grated Parmegiano Regianno
2 tbsp. finely chopped rosemary
½ C toasted walnuts, chopped, or whole toasted pine nuts
NOTES: Use home-made stock or frozen stock from a good butcher. Lardons are hand-cut morsels of bacon. Get your butcher to give you 2 slices of bacon as thick as his index finger, then at home, cut these slabs into quarter-inch matchsticks. Regular bacon will work too, but isn’t nearly as good.
Roasting
Split your squash and scoop out the seeds and membranes. Lightly oil the inside of the squash, then generously season it with salt and pepper. Roast cut side up in a 425° F oven for 40-60 min., or until beginning to brown and shrink along the cut edges. It’s important to wait for the browning, this gives sweetness to the squash.
Mise en place
While the squash is roasting, get the stock simmering, and prep all the ingredients for the risotto, arranging them next to the stove: first put the dried porcinis into a small bowl and ladle about a cup of hot stock over them. Let this steep. Then slice the bacon into lardons, chop the onions, garlic, mushrooms and rosemary, and grate the cheese.
Action!
In a large, heavy pot (enamelled cast-iron is ideal), crisp the lardons over medium-high heat. This should take about ten minutes. Once they’re all browned, remove them with a slotted spoon, and drain out the rendered fat. Then heat 3 full tablespoons of olive oil in the pot. Add the onions and garlic and chopped cremini mushrooms, and lower the heat to medium. Cook for about 12 minutes, adding a good pinch of salt after the mushrooms have released their liquid. You’re looking for perfectly transparent onions, and slightly browned mushrooms, but don’t scorch the garlic.
Now add the rice all at once, turn the heat up a notch, and stir vigorously. Here you want to coat each grain of rice with oil, and fry it slightly. You’ll see the rice take on a thin translucent jacket, and hear a dry crackling in the pot. This can take three to five minutes, depending on your stove.
Carefully pour the porcinis and their steeping liquid into the pot, leaving any sediment behind. Also quickly add the vermouth and resume your stirring. Once these two liquids have been absorbed by the rice, reduce the heat back to medium, and start adding the hot chicken stock, one ladle-full at a time. You will now be stirring without stopping for about 25-30 minutes, adding stock as necessary to keep the rice moist and bubbly. Finding the right temperature is crucial. You want the rice to boil, but gently. Keep stirring and adding stock, incorporating the liquid almost completely before adding more.
Don’t forget
At one point, as you’re stirring with one hand, you may need to use the other to slide the squash out of the oven and pour yourself a glass of wine. This is also a good time to toast the nuts. Your nose will tell you when they’re done, but use a timer also, just in case.
Keep stirring
And taste the rice from time to time to monitor its progress. If you watch carefully, you’ll see toward the end it really gives itself over to the liquid, releasing its starch and making a kind of cream. Stop incorporating hot stock once the rice is creamy and al dente, cooked but not too soft. (The amount of liquid needed can vary by as much as 2 cups depending on the rice, outdoor temperature, phase of the moon, etc.)
All done
Turn off the heat, and immediately fold in 3 tbsp. butter, the grated cheese, half the chopped rosemary, and several grinds of black pepper. Also check for salt at this point. Once it’s all mixed in, put a lid on the risotto, and let it rest for two minutes. It will expand slightly in volume, and take on a marvellous sheen.
Serve the hot risotto over gondolas of roasted squash, and garnish with the roasted nuts and remaining rosemary. A final flourish with a thread of good balsamico or walnut oil is also entirely appropriate, if you feel so inspired.
Beautiful and rustic….just how I like my food!!! Pine nuts are so expensive here, but I will have to make a plan…..
I actually prefer walnuts!
David
I have no doubt that this is delicious. However, what accounts for the omission of a big drool of heavy cream – say, the 48% kind – in the final “mantecare” stage/?
Stop drooling in my risotto, Victor. I wonder if cream will dilute all that roasty buttery mushroominess? I’ll certainly let you know.
This looks orgasmic!
I made this last night, substituting pumpkin for the squash, because I’m a pumpkin freak. OMG, this was amazingly good! I can see why this is a signature dish.
Victor, you don’t need cream in the recipe – A) it’s crazy rich and creamy without it, and B) I think the drizzle of balsamic would be wierd with cream.
I gotta say, though – we stuffed ourselves and have EASILY 6 servings left over. I think the ’serves 4′ might be for a half recipe.
Kathy, I’m known for being a terrible judge of portion sizes, because I have a hollow leg and come from a family of 9. I should learn to say ’serves 9′, because it seems I’m forever shopping and cooking for that many. (Makes for great leftovers, though). Glad to hear you enjoyed this.
Cheers,
David
hmm this looks wonderful! so when are you making this again?
Heyas, David!
Just a note – leftover ’shroom risotto patties, coated with a 50/50 mix of chickpea (besan) flour and breadcrumbs, well seasoned, made a great dinner last night! The besan flour makes it uber crispy and you can get it good and brown without soaking in fat or burning. Nom Nom x2 for your great recipe!
Kathy
Yum! This looks absolutely delish! I adore squash- my fave is butternut, not a huge fan of acorn- and risotto.
i just made (and ate!) this for dinner tonight. oh.my.gawd. so good!! only change was to make it vegetarian. i am so looking forward to those leftovers for lunch– thank you!!
Glad you enjoyed it. Love your blog!
David and Robert,
This was unbelievable. I am going to bed happy and cannot wait until lunch tomorrow. Thank you both so much!
Boys –
This is so good, even as leftovers, that when I dropped a little on my desk here at work, I furtively scooped it up and ate it. Do you have any idea how dirty my desk probably is? TOTALLY WORTH IT.
Thanks Mel! So glad you tackled this one, it’s one of my all-time favourite winter suppers. And even better as lunch. High five.