Dirty Kitchen Secrets

This risotto was truly luscious and vibrant with the fragrance of vanilla. The cinamon and vanilla united harmoniously with the butternut squash and creamy risotto. As each sinfully comforting bite melts in your mouth, it leaves sweet undertones that marry well with the velvety rich risotto. As I wasn’t particularly impressed with the way the scallops turned out, I’m not going to post the recipe at this time.

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 liter of good quality chicken/vegetable broth

1 large vanilla bean

1 cinnamon stick

1 butternut squash or about 300g, peeled and cubed

240g Arborio rice

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon of butter

2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon 

1 onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

½ cup dry white wine

½ cup freshly grated parmesan

2 tablespoons fresh chives

Open the vanilla bean and place it in the broth. Add the cinnamon stick and bring the broth to a simmer

On medium heat, drizzle a tablespoon of butter and sautee the butternut squash  cubes with 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon for about 10 minutes or till soft but with an al dente bite

In a deep heavy bottomed pot, heat the olive oil and then add the onions and garlic and sautee till transluscent but not brown for about 3-5 minutes

Add the arborio rice, mix well and cook for a further 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently

add the wine, stirring frequently till absorbed, this should take another 3-4 minutes

Add 2 ladels of broth and let cook till absorbed before repeating a ladel at a time till all the broth is finished or risotto is creamy and tender with an al dente bite.

Add the cooked butternut squash and parmesan. salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with some freshly chopped chives.

Note: if you plan to make this ahead, then you’ll want to stop cooking it when you have depleted the broth by half. At which point, you’ll want to quickly spread the risotto into 1 thin layer onto a large dish and quickly put it in the fridge so it stops cooking. You can then finish cooking the risotto 15-20 minutes prior to serving. Remember to take out the risotto from the fridge 10 minutes before the final cooking.

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