Yum Yum

Tonight I was super eager to cook dinner, and now it's done and sitting on the stove, and I have to wait another 15 minutes for Brian to get home. So, I will take advantage of this time to give you all the wonderful butternut squash risotto recipe because Molly (my baller friend who is in Spain on a Fulbright) requested it. I hope she makes it in her cute little Spanish kitchen.

This is a pretty simple meal, once you get the hang of it. Risotto requires constant attention, so it's not one of those meals you start and walk away from. But it only takes about 25 minutes, so it's not bad. You have to stir it constantly so get that arm ready for a workout. Making risotto is kind of an art, but you'll learn how to watch it. You know when you make regular rice, you put the water in at the beginning and the rice soaks it up? Well, with risotto, you just put the liquid in slowly throughout the cooking process and keep putting more in until the rice is done. When you are stirring and you notice that the rice is not caving back in on itself, it leaves kind of a wake where you can see the bottom of the pot, you know it's time to put in more liquid. After about 15 minutes, try a fork-ful (but be careful, I just burned my tongue doing that), and it should be still a bit firm to the bite, but not too firm, when it's done. Sounds complicated, it's really not. You can do it! (and you should. it's delicious)

Here's what you need:
Butter
Half an Onion, diced
Broccoli, cut into little pieces
Butternut Squash (you can buy this already cut at most grocery stores, or just get a small-ish one and cut it yourself into cubes)
1 chicken breast
1 c. Aborio rice (can be found either near regular rice or in the pasta section, it's usually in a box)
Chicken stock (roll with some low-sodium if you can find it)
Dry white wine, just 1 glass (ish)
Parmesan cheese, 1/4-1/2 c.

Alright, cut up all your veggies and chicken.

Heat your pot (you want a pot that can hold all your veggies and chicken and allow some room for a lot of stirring) on medium with a slab of butter (about 1 T or a bit less, but whatever you want). Once that is all melty and hot, toss all of your veggies and chicken in. Stir it and let it saute until the veggies are getting soft, the onion should be turning transparent, but not brown.

Pour in the Aborio rice and stir it up with everything else. Keep stirring, letting it get really hot. The rice will start turning transparent-y. Now pour in your wine and stir it so everything gets nice and covered. Keep stirring until it looks as if all the wine is soaked in.

Now comes the chicken stock. You want about a cup of it to start off with. Heat it up in the microwave (or keep a small pot of it simmering throughout this process), and pour it in. Again, keep stirring until the chicken stock is pretty much soaked up. Now repeat that with another cup of chicken stock. Keep repeating until the rice will not soak any more liquid up. The rice should be firm, but tender to the bite (from the time you put the rice in, this should take about 15-20 minutes).

Now take it off the heat and stir in another 1/2 tablespoon or so of butter and about a 1/4- 1/2 c of Parmesan cheese. Put the lid on the pot and let it sit off the heat for 3-5 minutes. Then serve and enjoy!

Oh, by the way, this recipe makes about 4 servings. For me and Brian, it's enough to feed both of us for a meal and have some leftover for lunch the next day!