Thursday 24 February 2011

Butternut Squash Risotto

Today, we had a day out planned at Crealy, great for the children, can be exhausting for the adults! I figured a good breakfast was needed first - porridge with half a banana, cinnamon and tinned peaches, topped with some almonds...


I then prepared packed lunches for our day out - the food at these places is so expensive!


So off to Crealy we went! After a couple of rides on the pirate ship, down the slides etc it was time for lunch. Sweet potato houmous with carrot and cucumber sticks and a couple of oatcakes...


the sweet potato houmous was still delicious, and the weather was so lovely that we ate on a picnic bench outside, I much prefer spring/summer to winter!


after lunch we took a walk around the lake, which sent baby to sleep in the pushchair, yey! It was so busy  (half term + good weather) but I managed to find half a table free in one of the cafes, so I enjoyed a latte whilst Liam took our daughter into the indoor play area...


I managed to resist all the yummy looking cakes though!

Dinner was something I'd been looking forward to all week! Butternut squash risotto, vaguely based on this recipe, although the main thing I used the recipe for was to roast the butternut squash, and I ended up having to cook it for longer than the recipe called for.

Butternut Squash Risotto
(serves 2-3)
  • butternut squash, approx 600g
  • 1 tbsp oil for butternut squash, plus 1-2tsp oil for risotto
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 225g risotto rice (adjust according to appetite)
  • approx 850ml stock (or boiling water + stock cube)
  • 180g baby spinach
  • 100g goat's cheese, diced
  • 1-2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
  • EDIT: since making this again, I've discovered a "dressing" of pesto/oil is a delicious addition - see here - feel free to experiment with toppings!


First chop up the butternut squash, mix with a little oil and roast at 200C for about 25-30 minutes...


While the butternut squash is cooking, gently fry off the diced onion in a little oil, then add the risotto rice and quickly fry in the oil. Then start adding the stock. I used about 850ml of boiling water total with 1 veg stock cube...


continue to add in the stock bit by bit and let it simmer gently. Give the butternut squash a shake half way through roasting so it doesn't burn/stick. And prepare any extras. I used about 180g baby spinach and 100g chopped goat's cheese...


Once the butternut squash is cooked, mash half of it (I just used a fork)...


and stir through the pretty much ready (almost all stock absorbed) risotto...


and then stir in the spinach and heat for a minute or two until wilted...


and serve...


Like porridge, this risotto is even better with toppings! Chopped/crumbled goat's cheese...


the remaining roasted butternut squash...


and a few pumpkin seeds...


this was amazing...


definitely one that will be made again! Even Liam, who was expecting it to be bland and unlikeable (!) thought it was great...


yum, this was truly delicious! The tang of the goat's cheese was great to cut through the creaminess of the other flavours, yum yum yum! :)

3 comments:

  1. Just a thought re:the family and vegetarianism dilemma. It doesn't seem a problem that you took a veggie lunch with you to Crealy, and I was thinking that perhaps you could use your Mum's enthusiasm for you to lose weight as a means of making her accept your transition into veggie ways.

    I know several women at my gym are veggie only for reasons of weight loss, and perhaps explaining it to your Mum this way would make her support your decision, even though you'd know deep down that there were ethical reasons too. It sounds like your Mum would do anything to help you lose weight, so surely she couldn't object to you going veggie on those grounds.

    Just a thought anyway.

    xxx

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  2. Thanks for thinking about it Jess :) you're right it was fine me eating something different to the others at Crealy...my Mum wasn't there though. We do text each night to discuss what we're having for dinner, so I imagine she will eventually pick up that I'm eating meat-free, and especially as I'm also trying out a lot of new recipes she will probably mainly link it to healthy eating. She's actually quite envious of the food I eat as she has to cater for my fussy younger sister!!

    I suppose for now I'm happy without spelling it out to her. We very rarely eat out anyway, although as time goes on I imagine I will make more effort to choose meat-free in her company where possible. I'm still not sure, for example, how I'll choose to eat at our wedding and on honeymoon, I probably won't manage 100% meat free so until I'm more certain I think I'm just going to eat how I want to eat and see how it goes. I'm certainly enjoying all the new foods at the moment anyway! :) xxx

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  3. Very nice recipe. I've left out the goats cheese as everywhere I go and look for vegetarian meals they always offer goats cheese, never nice cow's milk cheese, so I'm a bit fed up with it. Also, I sauteed the spinach in a little butter before adding it. Overall a great recipe, thank you.

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