June 29: Risotto with Kale and Roasted Butternut Squash

I know. Kale and roasted squash? That sounds like I can't wait for cold weather to be here. Not (completely) true. I do love me some autumnal (!) meals, but I can hang on to warm weather for a while.


Anyways, back to the recipe. We had two half-bunches of kale (one from the produce box the week before) to use, and found this delicious looking recipe. 

Two kinds of curly kale!

Start by preheating the oven (to 425 degrees). Peel, seed and dice the butternut squash. Toss with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes. Stir the squash every 10 minutes or so.

Next, blanch the kale. You do this by bringing a large pot of water to a boil, cooking the kale in the boiling water for about 4 minutes. Prepare an ice water bath, and once the kale has cooked for 4 minutes, pull it out and immerse it in the ice bath to stop the cooking. 

Side benefit of blanching: it retains such an awesome, bright color. 

Drain and squeeze out the kale. Coarsely chop once drained. 

Sous-chef Christine, working hard to prep everything. 

Begin to heat up the chicken stock. In a separate pan, add the remaining olive oil, and cook the onion for about 3 minutes. Add the minced garlic and salt, and cook for another minute. Add the arborio rice and cook until coated in the oil. 

The cubed squash is tender and ready to go!

Stir in the wine, and cook over medium heat stirring constantly. When the wine is almost evaporated, add in the kale and 1/2 of the squash. Start adding the stock, ladle by ladle. Stir in the stock completely before adding in another ladle of stock. 

It is laborious, but worth it. 

Continue to check the risotto as stock is added to make sure the rice does not become mushy. 

Once all but 1/2 cup of the stock has been incorporated, add in the remaining squash and the last 1/2 cup of stock. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and parsley, and remove from the heat. Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve. 

Bright and seasonal (a little early). 

The risotto was really tasty. Very different from the other risottos we have made (i.e. risotto with bacon and peas, and risotto with mushrooms) in terms of taste -- the vegetables are much milder that other ingredients that we have used before. It was nice and creamy without being terrible for you. I would definitely make this again, perhaps varying the vegetables to try some different combinations. The end of summer is prime for delicious squash!