recipe - Butternut squash risotto

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone,

 

 

 

I am really not sure where all my time disappears to but I seem to have

neglected you all for ages. Mind you, having an extremely temperamental

e-mail program which has more downtime than ‘uptime’ doesn’t help much

either.

 

 

 

I thought it was time to share another one of my inventions. I am always

rather dubious about telling you about the meals I make because I am worried

about them seeming too bland. As I have mentioned previously, not only are

we vegetarians but we use no alcohol and have quite a long list of things we

either can’t eat or have to severely restrict for health reasons. I’m sure

that many people wonder if there is anything left that we can actually eat

but I assure you that we have an interesting and varied menu.

 

 

 

Of course having said that we eat a varied menu this is not the first recipe

for butternut squash I have shared with the group. You may perhaps get the

impression that I like that particular vegetable. Well, your impression is

quite correct – I love it and it adds a nice hint of sweetness to our

sugar/sweetener free diets.

 

 

 

 

 

BUTTERNUT SQUASH, PEA AND FETA RISOTTO (serves 3-4 generously)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

** I have included in brackets any ingredients/modifications which I have

used specifically to fit in with our restricted diets. I am sure that this

dish would taste as good (possibly better!) without these changes. For

example, risotto made with brown rice is never as rich and creamy as risotto

made with white rice. You may want to add salt but we never use additional

salt. In any case this dish already contains salt in the stock cube and the

feta (even though I did use low-salt feta).

 

 

 

1 butternut squash – 700 grams/1 ½ pounds

 

150 gram/5 ounces (brown whole grain) risotto/round grain rice

 

3 medium onions

 

1 tablespoon olive oil

 

1 (vegetarian) beef flavoured stock cube

 

Water (I used approximately 1.5 litres/50fluid ounces but it will vary

greatly depending on what sort of rice you use)

 

50 grams/2 ounces green peas [sometimes I use sultanas instead of peas. The

sultanas add extra sweetness but the peas look more colourful].

 

150 grams/5 ounces (low salt sheep) feta – cubed

 

Chopped parsley or coriander/cilantro to sprinkle on top when serving –

optional. We will be adding coriander/cilantro to our servings

 

A little sambal or other hot pepper sauce stirred through the dish would

give it an optional extra ‘bite’

 

Halve the squash from top to bottom and remove the seeds. There is no need

to remove the skin at this stage. Rub each half with a tiny amount of the

oil (literally 3-4 drops for each half) and roast in the oven at 200 C/390 F

about 20-30 minutes until the flesh is soft. Remove from the oven and allow

to cool.

 

 

 

Peel and chop the onions. Add the remaining oil to a frying pan/skillet

together with the onion and the rice. Stir well to make sure that the onion

and rice are thoroughly coated with oil. (You may want to use more oil than

I did but I have to restrict fats in our diets).

 

 

 

Stir until the onion is transparent then add the stock cube and about ½ cup

of the water. Stir to mix and watch the pan closely to ensure that it

doesn’t dry out or start to burn. As soon as the rice has absorbed most of

the water, add another ½ cup of water. Stir the mixture frequently. Repeat

adding water until the rice is tender. The mixture should be very moist and

almost ‘runny’.

 

 

 

Use a spoon to remove the squash from the skin and chop the flesh (the

squash flesh, not your own!!!) very roughly

 

 

 

When the rice is cooked, add the peas, squash and the feta and stir through.

Stir through sambal, if using. Exercise caution if adding hot sauce because

if you use too much it will mask the sweetness of the squash.

 

 

 

Garnish each serve with parsley or coriander/cilantro, if using.

 

 

 

Eet smakelijk (enjoy your meal)

 

 

 

Cheers to everyone from Marie

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Another lovely recipe - also added to the Italian file - in the non-spicy folder

Thanks a

bunch. Hugs!

 

> I thought it was time to share another one of my inventions. I am always

> rather dubious about telling you about the meals I make because I am worried

> about them seeming too bland.

 

Not at all! We don't all eat spicy at every meal, after all. And we have folders

in each

category for those which have less spice

 

> As I have mentioned previously, not only are

> we vegetarians but we use no alcohol and have quite a long list of things we

> either can't eat or have to severely restrict for health reasons. I'm sure

> that many people wonder if there is anything left that we can actually eat

> but I assure you that we have an interesting and varied menu.

 

So it seems! LOL No need to apologize. I'm sure there are plenty of people here

who are taking good care of their health through diet, and some are more

restricted in what they eat than you are. For a tiny example, my dh and I both

omit eggs

and dairy, no longer use alcohol, add no salt to our food (use no-salt-added

stock cubes, etc.), and cook without added fat. People seeing any recipes I

offer can always

add salt, sautee some foods rather than steam, and top with cheese or whatever

instead

of leaving things plain

 

As for sugar, it is rarely used, although we do have some in the house for some

things. A

small pack from our organic healthfood shop lasts a looooooong time!!! LOL But

we do like

to sweeten some things with stevia. It goes great in a Moroccan style peppermint

green

tea, for example!

 

Love, Pat