A creamy risotto with butternut squash, toasted walnuts, and earthy and peppery sage. The ghost pepper adds heat, with the lemon and extra virgin olive oil finish tying everything together.
Total Time: 45 minutes (about 50-50 prepping and cooking, but maybe you're faster at prepping, so you could do this in a total of 30-35 minutes)
Servings: 1 (maybe 2, depending on your appetite!)
Ingredients
- 160g Carnaroli rice
- 160g butternut squash, thinly diced
- 7 walnuts (15 halves), roasted
- 10 dried sage leaves
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 15mg Ghost Pepper (adjust to taste)
- 1 heaped tsp vegan stock powder
- 4 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
- Water (as needed)
- Squeeze of lemon juice
Nutritional Info
Profile:
Energy: ~1,350 kcal | Carbohydrates: ~145g (Carnaroli rice, squash) | Fats: ~75g (walnuts, EVOO) | Protein: ~19g | Fiber: ~8g. Key nutrients: beta-carotene (1,600% RDA), omega-3s (1.8g ALA), and magnesium (30% RDA).
Health Benefits & Conditions:
Beneficial for type 2 diabetes (fiber stabilizes blood sugar; low-glycemic squash) and hypertension (magnesium, heart-healthy fats). Omega-3s (walnuts) and monounsaturated fats (EVOO) reduce cardiovascular risk. Beta-carotene supports immunity and eye health.
Instructions
- Prepare the spice base: Crush sage, garlic, and ghost pepper with a mortar and pestle. Sauté in 1 tsp EVOO (about 5 sprays from an oil spray bottle) for 30 seconds on medium heat or up to 1 minute on low. You can add a splash of water, about 1 tbsp, to ensure the garlic and pepper don't burn.
- Cook the squash: Add butternut squash and another 1 tsp EVOO. Sauté for 5 minutes, adding small amounts of water if needed to prevent burning and deglaze the bottom.
- Toast the rice: Stir in the rice with 1 tsp EVOO and roast for 5 minutes until slightly translucent.
- Simmer to the right consistency: Gradually add water, typically about a half cup at a time, stirring continuously for the first 5-10 minutes, then intermittently until the rice is al dente and always add more water when it starts looking a bit dry.
- Rest & finish: Let the risotto sit for 2-3 minutes, then add a squeeze of lemon juice.
- Plate & garnish: Top with dry-roasted walnuts and drizzle 1-3 tbsp EVOO before serving.
Tips
- Carnaroli rice, often called the "King of Rice", is excellent, but Arborio, which is more common and cheaper, works very well. Any round and stout-grained rice that releases a good amount of starch will work because that's the key to a creamy risotto. The longer and thinner varieties are generally not recommended because they don't release enough starch and have an unsatisfying "bite" when al dente.
- Toast the walnuts before you cook the rest of the recipe or simultaneously, i.e., in between stirs. Toasted nuts are better after they've cooled, so don't do it after or too close to finishing the risotto.
- Use a sharp and reliable knife to skin and chop the squash. Don't push too hard or try any tricks because it can result in severe injury or, if you're lucky, even stab yourself!
Notes
- I took quite a long time to skin and cut up the squash because I'm slow and quite careful while using knives; you may be faster, so my cooking time is more of a guideline than anything although I seriously doubt you can get a decent risotto (just the rice bit) done in under 20 minutes.
- You can add a bit more squash if you want. I probably did about 200 grams, to be honest, but I thought a 1:1 squash-to-rice ratio looked good on the recipe.
- I used dried sage because that's all that was available. You can try fresh sage if you have access to it.
Tits-Up!
P.S. Some, well, two, actually, of my friends think the finished dish looks like puke or "Ostrich Diarrhoea" and one acquaintance said it looks (or maybe sounds) "fancy": what do you think?