butternut squash risotto

For regular readers of AHB, you may know there are a few things that I don't really follow a recipe for (meatloaf, meatballs, bolognese, lasagna, etc), and that includes risotto. Once you know the main base, you don't really pay attention to the full recipes. You start reading a recipe to see the combination of "filler" ingredients, and get ideas, and think about how that might fit in with versions you've already tried and liked. This always makes me feel like a "real" cook, since I can think about how different ingredients play off each other without feeling the need to blindly follow a recipe I have no clue about. But it leaves me with the tiny problem of crediting all the various ideas that go into a new risotto back to all the possible articles that may have contributed to it.

For this one, I had seen lots of risottos and pastas (and even a chili) that included butternut squash, since it's that time of year. There seems to be a consensus on adding some sort of salty complement to the sweetness of the squash (for example, adding squash to a beef brisket based chili, which I haven't tried yet but will). So what about using bacon, and the resulting bacon grease, as the starter for a risotto? I won't take credit for the idea, since I may have seen it multiple places, but I can't find anything exact. Anyway, here's what I did.

Grocery list: 1 cup arborio (risotto) rice, 1 cup white wine, 3 cups chicken stock, 3-4 slices bacon, 1/2 butternut squash (roasted and cut into cubes), 2 T minced fresh sage, 1 T minced fresh thyme, 1 small yellow onion, 2 cloves garlic.



Chop 3 slices of bacon into small pieces, and add to a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Depending on the fat content of the bacon, you might want to add a touch more olive oil to the pan (I did).



After the bacon has cooked for a few minutes and started to crisp, continue with your risotto base. For me, that means adding a finely chopped onion (and a couple minced garlic cloves, which is different than most risottos where I use shallots) and about a tablespoon of chopped fresh thyme leaves. Because butternut squash tastes better with sage, I added 2 T minced fresh sage leaves here too. Stir and cook until the onions are translucent.



Add 1 cup of arborio rice and stir well. Allow to cook for 2-3 minutes, then add a glass of white wine (between 1/2 and 1 cup). Keep stirring until all the liquid is absorbed.



Heat 3-3.5 cups of chicken broth until it's steaming (either in the microwave or in a pot next to the risotto). The key is to have 4 total cups of liquid for every 1 cup of rice, so 1 cup white wine + 3 cups broth, etc. Stir in the broth 1 cup at a time, stirring after each addition until the liquid is absorbed. This will take about 15-20 minutes of cooking, stirring, adding broth, repeating.

Finally, stir in the cooked butternut squash pieces and season with salt and pepper to taste.

crispy pork chops with sage cream gravy

I've had this old Rachel Ray recipe on file for a long time now, and it keeps getting put to good use. I was never a fan of pork chops (from childhood, if you asked "do you want pork chops for dinner?", all I heard was "do you want bricks of glue and sawdust charred for 45 minutes on an open flame, with a minuscule side of ketchup to try and swallow it down with?"). But I do understand it's a good source of protein, and the boneless center cut loin has about the same stats as a chicken breast. And there's nothing like a little bit of crispy panko to help you get over a food phobia, right? This is actually not as unhealthy as it sounds - the gravy is made with whole milk (not cream), thickened up with an olive oil and flour roux, and the pork is pan-fried and then baked. I didn't even need the ketchup.

Grocery list: 4 boneless center cut pork loins, whole milk, egg, panko, sage, parsley, flour, parmesan.



Mix the panko, parmesan, some of the parsley and sage in a shallow bowl (big enough to fit the pork chops one at a time).



To bread the pork, dip first into the egg (whisked first of course), then press into the panko mixture.



Add 2 T of olive oil to a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat, and fry the pork chops for 5 minutes per side.



Move the pork chops to a wire rack set over a baking sheet (this will keep them from getting soggy on the bottom while they cook in the oven). Bake at 400 degrees for 10 more minutes, while you whip up the cream sauce.



Add another 1 T oil to the same pan, and whisk in 3 T of flour.



Slowly whisk in 1 cup of milk.



Mix the remaining parsley and sage into the cream sauce, season with salt and pepper, and serve immediately over the pork chops.

jamie oliver's rotolo of spinach, squash and ricotta

According to Jamie Oliver, he was discovered with this stuffed, rolled pasta dish called a rotolo (someone important saw him making it, and his TV chef career began). It's actually less labor-intensive than ravioli, since you are basically working with one giant stuffed piece of pasta instead of 30+. And if you really want to impress someone with dinner, it should be delicious, beautifully presented, and unique. This rotolo fits the bill perfectly.

Grocery list: 1 pound fresh pasta dough, 1/2 butternut squash (halved, deseeded), olive oil, 1 tsp coriander seeds, 1 tsp fennel, 1/2 a dried chili, handful of fresh oregano leaves, 2 cloves garlic, 1.5 pounds fresh spinach, butter, grated nutmeg, 5.5 oz ricotta, 2oz grated parmesan, fresh sage leaves.



Make pasta dough (after many batches, I've now settled on a 2 cups flour + 3 whole eggs + 3 yolks to make the perfect consistency).



Then, fix all pasta pieces together with a dab of water at the edges, so you have one large rectangular sheet of pasta.

Jamie's recipe calls for cubing the squash and seasoning with ground coriander, fennel and chili - I simply roasted it with olive oil, salt and pepper (along with a spaghetti squash I was using for another meal). Roast for about 45 minutes, or until fork tender. Mash the squash pieces until they are almost spreadable, and allow to cool.



Mince the garlic and fresh oregano, and saute in olive oil over medium-high heat for a few seconds.



Add the spinach - it will look like way too much, but will cook down drastically as long as you keep moving it around the pan.



After the water has cooked out (5 minutes or so), add a couple T of butter, season with grated nutmeg (1/2 tsp?), salt and pepper. Allow to cool.



Spoon the squash, spread the spinach, sprinkle the ricotta and then parmesan, leaving 2 inches at the top of the pasta sheet clear. Roll up like a jelly roll, then wrap in a cheesecloth and tie both ends. Boil gently in a large pot of salted water for 25 minutes.



Jamie's recipe also calls for clarifying 1/2 pound of butter (heating it till the whey separates, spooning off the whey, then using the rest so you can fry it without smoking or turning brown). I actually just used olive oil to fry the sage leaves, drained them on paper towels, then melted some butter to pour over the rotolo.



Remove from the water, cut the cheesecloth carefully away, and slice into 1-2 inch thick pieces. Drizzle a little butter, sprinkle with extra parmesan, and lay a couple of fried sage leaves over the top.

scalloped potato and herb gratin

From Bon Appetit's Thanksgiving 2008 issue, this is a rich, flavorful, impressive yet easy to make side. I made exactly half (original recipe is below - serves 12), and it was a perfectly indulgent accompaniment to steak - go figure.

Grocery list: 1.5 lbs medium Yukon Gold potatoes, 1.5 lbs medium sweet potatoes, 2 c heavy whipping cream, 1/2 stick butter, 2 minced garlic cloves, 1 T *each* minced fresh parsley, rosemary, sage & thyme, 4-5 oz grated gruyere cheese (a little over a cup).



Peel all the potatoes and slice into thin (1/4 inch) rounds. Place immediately in a bowl of cold water to prevent them from turning color. Mince the herbs and garlic.



Heat the garlic, cream and butter over medium heat until just simmering, then turn off the burner.



In a greased 9x13 pan, layer half of both types of potatoes, then half of all the herbs, season with salt and pepper, and half of the grated gruyere.



Finish with a second layer of all remaining ingredients, then pour over the cream mixture. Cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes; remove foil and continue baking until bubbly and golden on top, another 25 minutes. Allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving. (The original recipe says this can be made ahead - as in up to 6 hours, not the day before or anything - just refrigerate until ready to bake.)

spaghetti squash with ricotta, sage & toasted pine nuts

I found this awesome recipe for spaghetti squash on The Kitchn (Apartment Therapy's cooking blog). It's so true - parmesan is good and all, but is that the *only* way to make spaghetti squash? This is definitely going in the rotation. I made it with a roast leg of lamb and some rainbow chard with garlic, the perfect autumnal dinner.

Grocery list: 2lb spaghetti squash, 2 cloves garlic, olive oil, 3/4 cup ricotta, handful of pinenuts (about half a cup), about 10 fresh sage leaves.



Start by cutting your squash in half lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast at 375 degrees for about an hour (obviously bigger squash take longer; you know it's done when a fork can pierce it easily). I also roasted some butternut squash while the oven was on - to be featured soon, promise :)



Heat a thin layer of olive oil in a small fry pan over medium-high heat. Fry the sage leaves for about a minute - they'll start to brown. When you remove them from the pan to a paper-lined plate, they actually get crispy. If you wait till they're crispy in the pan, they are actually burned on the plate (learned the hard way).



Smash a couple of garlic cloves, and mix in a large bowl with the ricotta. Toast the pinenuts over medium heat in a small fry pan, moving constantly so they don't burn in spots. Chop the crispy sage and stir it, along with the pine nuts, into the squash.



When the squash is done, hold each half down with tongs and, using your other hand, drag a fork across the inside of the squash. It will come up easily, looking like little spaghetti noodles. Transfer to the bowl with ricotta and stir well. Season with salt and pepper.