Review: Risotto with Butternut Squash, Pancetta and Jack Cheese from 10/04

[Jessica]

This is one of those recipes that is a lot of work but, IMO, worth the effort. DH helped me prep the ingredients and we were able to do some prep while the squash roasted. I followed the recipe exactly but I would make a couple changes: I would use less tarragon and strain it out of the broth, and I would not add any extra salt as it was already salty from the pancetta and broth.

The cooking method is unusual. You bake the risotto in a Dutch oven and then steam it on the stove with a cloth over the pan. It seemed to work well; the risotto is a little soupier than usual but not runny or too liquidy.

I would describe the flavor as earthy. The dish has a lot of different flavors and I was surprised at how well they came together, although for me the tarragon hit too high a note. The squash gets very creamy after it is roasted and then baked with the rice. Two thumbs up, but not a quick weeknight dish.

[kristalsnow7]

Thanks for the review, Jessica. This is one that I marked to try.

[Kayaksoup]

Hmm, I think I need to look over my october issue again, this sounds great.
Risotto with Butternut Squash, Pancetta, and Jack Cheese
From Cooking Light


Chardonnay is a varietal that's difficult to pair with foods. But the creamy, buttery sweetness of butternut squash makes a good complement to wine. The same is true of tarragon, which in small amounts is a delicious backdrop for most chardonnays. Utterly satisfying, this pairing is comfort food and comfort wine at its best.

1 1/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 3 1/2 cups)
Cooking spray
2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 1/3 cups water
2 tablespoons Madeira wine or sweet Marsala
1 tablespoon minced fresh tarragon
4 ounces chopped pancetta
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup uncooked Arborio rice or other short-grain rice
2/3 cup (about 2 1/2 ounces) 1/2-inch-cubed Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
Fresh tarragon sprigs (optional)

Preheat oven to 475°.
Place squash on a nonstick jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 475° for 20 minutes or until tender, turning after 10 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 325°.

Combine broth, water, wine, and tarragon in a saucepan; bring to a simmer. Keep warm over low heat.

Cook pancetta in a large ovenproof Dutch oven over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove pancetta from pan; drain on a paper towel. Discard pan drippings. Add onion and oil to pan; sauté 10 minutes or until onion is tender. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add rice to pan; sauté 1 minute. Stir in broth mixture; bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat, and simmer over low heat, uncovered, for 10 minutes. (Do not stir; rice will have a liquid consistency similar to stew.)

Place pan in oven; bake at 325° for 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Stir in the squash, pancetta, cheese, salt, and pepper. Cover with a clean cloth; let stand 10 minutes (rice will continue to cook). Sprinkle with pine nuts. Garnish with tarragon sprigs, if desired.

Perfect wine: Clos du Val Chardonnay 2001 (Carneros, CA), $21. This chardonnay has refined flavors reminiscent of custard, caramel, apple tarts, and honey. There's a hint of oak, but the wine is not superbuttery, oaky, or toasty. This wine is complemented by the savoriness of the rice and the sweetness of the squash.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 3/4 cup)

NUTRITION PER SERVING
CALORIES 423 (30% from fat); FAT 14.2g (sat 5.5g, mono 5.6g, poly 1.9g); PROTEIN 14.5g; CARB 57.3g; FIBER 6.6g; CHOL 28mg; IRON 2mg; SODIUM 783mg; CALC 235mg;

Karen MacNeil
Cooking Light, OCTOBER 2004

[CookinMode]

I also made this dish over the weekend and would agree with everything that Jessica said. The tarragon was just a big too much for me, and I was thinking that maybe next time I would even use a different herb. Sage maybe? Anyway, this was the first dish from Oct CL that really jumped out at me, and I was very pleased. The combo of pancetta and butternut is something I would eat over and over again!

I even found the wine that it was paired with in CL, except the store had the 2002 vintage, not the 2001 (so it was about $4 less than the printed price). The wine got a big thumbs up as well, a very tasty Chardonnay, and I usually do not like Chardonnay because I like oak better in red wine. But, this is one of those low-oaked Chardonnays that passed my test, and it went very well with the risotto!

CM

[SusanMac]

CL's Oct 2002 (or was it 2001?) issue had a butternut squash & rice recipe that sounds very similar, but was made in the oven. If you're looking to make the 2004 dish a bit easier, I'd recommend checking out this other one. It's not a traditional risotto, but close enough for me.

[Jessica]

I think sage would be marvelous. That is what I will try next time!

[Molli526]

Thanks for the suggestions on sage. I didn'[t remeber about the sale :o This was a nice, all-inclusive dish. The only changes I made were to saute the onion in the pancetta fat and omitting the olive oil. DH says this is a repeater. The next time I make this, I may do it in the tradional method to get a creamer outcome.

[Molli526]

Thanks for the suggestions on sage. I didn't remeber about the sale :o This was a nice, all-inclusive dish. The only changes I made were to saute the onion in the pancetta fat and omitting the olive oil. DH says this is a repeater. The next time I make this, I may do it in the tradional method to get a creamer outcome.

[MaryH]

I made this today and agree it is somwhat labor intensive. I omitted the pancetta with thoughts of adding ham or salami in at the end, but never did. DH also thought it was too soupy and I think you could easily increase the risotto to 1 cup or 1 1/4 cups and be just fine. I, for one, liked the tarragon. Chardonnay does go very well with this.

My only criticism is that I used one butternut squash and now have about half of it left over. (I am planning on doing soup again with it.)

[angelamaria]

i made this saturday night. i used bacon instead of pancetta as i couldn't find any pancetta and sauted the onions in the bacon fat- it was center cut bacon so it wasn't a lot of fat.my mom and i both thought it was great and we both liked the tarragon. i served it with the bluecheese apple spinach salad from the same issue- it was also very tasty. we drank champagne with it (had some to use up). imo an excellent meal.now if my grocery only sold precut butternut chunks it would have been even better! i think i have a blister from my santoku after cutting up all the squash!

[Elizabeth B]

I made this last night and agree with everyone's comments. I served it with the cider roast chicken and the timing between the two dishes was a little tricky.

I was wondering how it would taste with smoked gouda. Do you think that would overwhelm the other flavors?

[swampnurse]

funny you all recomended sage. i don't like tarragon, so i used sage instead which i happened ytop have in my garden. guess i fianlly know what i'm doing around the kitchen. :) It was wonderful and i will make it again!

[Pony]

I made this recipe last night and LOVED it. It was not the quickest recipe, but I loved not stirring the risotto! That in itself was a time saver for me, I worked on cleaning up and sauteed vege's for a side while the rice was baking.

The only changes I made were....used prosciutto instead of pancetta and used 1 tsp dried tarragon. Using 1 tsp. tarragon did not produce a strong tarragon flavor for me, however my tarragon is not superfresh either :rolleyes:

Looking forward to leftovers!

Michelle

[stacy7272]

I made this last month and I loved it as well. It was my first experience with pancetta and it was awesome. I was also worried about the tarragon being too strong (I halved the recipe AND used dried tarragon) but it wasn't.

I also splurged and got the wine that was recommended with this. I am just not a Chardonnay fan but I really wanted to taste what a real match was like. I tasted the wine first and actually liked it but once I started eating the wine tasted horrible! I thought it didn't go well at all. DH didn't like it together either but after dinner polished off the rest of the bottle of wine:rolleyes: .