SIDES
Butternut Squash and Bacon Risotto Submitted by Amber Berg , Account Director | Serves 4-6
The Wednesday night before Thanksgiving , my brother , sister-in-law and our families hang out in our comfy clothes at my parents ’ house and order an absurd amount of Chinese food for what we call “ Thanksgiving Hootenanny .” My sister-in-law Kellie , my stepmom Jane and I prep some of the food for Thanksgiving Day . Kellie and I love making this risotto together , because with two people , one can keep stirring the risotto rice while the other keeps the wine glasses full !
INGREDIENTS
• 1 large butternut squash , about 3 pounds , peeled , cored and diced in ½-inch pieces
• Salt
• 6 oz thick-sliced smoked bacon
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 tsp ground sage
• 1 ½ cups arborio rice
• ½ cup dry white wine
• Ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp fresh sage leaves , slivered
• Parmesan cheese
DIRECTIONS 1 . Place squash in a saucepan with 4 cups salted water . Bring to a boil and simmer until tender , about 10 minutes . Drain , reserving the cooking liquid . 2 . Set aside half the diced squash . Place the rest , with 2 cups of the cooking liquid , in a blender or food processor and process until smooth . 3 . Return this thin squash purée and the rest of the cooking liquid to the saucepan in which the squash was cooked . You should have about 5 cups . 4 . Fry half the bacon . Set aside . Chop the rest . Place chopped bacon in a 3-quart sauté pan over medium-low heat . Cook , stirring , until bacon barely starts to color .
5 . Add the onion , continue cooking until onion is translucent . Stir in half the ground sage , then the rice . Cook , stirring on medium heat , a few minutes until the grains of rice start to look chalky . Stir in the wine and cook until most has evaporated .
6 . Bring the saucepan of squash liquid to a simmer and start to add it to the rice , about half a cup at a time , stirring and adding more as it is absorbed . After about 15 minutes , the rice should almost be al dente .
7 . Before adding the final portion of liquid , fold in the reserved diced squash , the remaining ground sage and salt and pepper to taste .
8 . Divide risotto among 4-6 plates , crumble the reserved fried bacon on top of each portion with some Parmesan and slivered sage .
16 THE OVERABOVE FAMILY COOKBOOK