Butternut inspiration

I love squash, and tend to buy them if I happen to see them on sale.

That's how I ended up with a butternut squash in my cupboard waiting to be used. I decided to just bake it and eat it plain. But the baked butternut squash just wasn't doing much for me, so I decided to do something different with it.

I found this recipe for Risotto with Butternut Squash and Leeks from Epicurious. I pretty much didn't follow the directions at all (partially because I had already baked my squash, partially because I'm lazy, and partially because I'm not very good at following directions).

My version looked something like this:

LEEK AND BUTTERNUT SQUASH RISOTTO

1 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 large butternut squash

3 large leeks, sliced (white and pale green parts only)

3 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon Italian spices 

2 cups brown rice rice

3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese plus additional (for serving)

Slice squash in half. Place in casserole dish or on baking sheet, flesh side down. Bake in 425-degree oven for 45 minutes or until soft.

Cook rice. (I cooked it in my rice cooker. This was a lazy shortcut, rather than following the recipe and adding broth a little at a time, like you should with risotto).

Heat a large pan over medium heat. Add oil. Add garlic, leeks and Italian spices. Saute until leeks are soft. Scoop the squash flesh into the pan and add the rice. Mix well.

Serve with Parmesan cheese.



This ended up a little bland. The recipe calls for fresh basil, which I somehow failed to notice until I sat down to write this blog post. (I told you I wasn't good at following directions). I think that would be a nice addition. Some ground pepper, might also spice it up. I just put some hot sauce on it when I ate, which also worked.