Butternut Squash Risotto is an easy side dish or entrée made with Arborio rice, crisp white cooking wine, sweet roasted butternut squash and fresh thyme.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.
Arrange butternut squash, cut into 1-inch cubes, in a single layer. Season with salt and pepper.
Roast butternut squash for 25-35 minutes, or until soft and easily mashed with a fork.
Towards the end of the squash roasting, melt butter in a large heavy bottom skillet over medium-high heat.
Also heat vegetable or chicken broth in a saucepan over low heat.
Add Arborio rice and onion to melted butter. Sautéing until light brown.
Pour white cooking wine into browned Arborio rice, stirring well until all liquid is absorbed.
Mash butternut squash with the bask of a fork until it resembles mashed potatoes. Add this to your Arborio rice before you start adding broth, stir well. Add whole fresh thyme sprigs.
One cup at a time, add broth to Arborio rice, stirring well and waiting until all liquid is absorbed before each addition.
When all broth is added, risotto will be creamy and look like rice pudding.
Season with Kosher salt as desired and stir in Parmesan cheese, if desired.
Remove thyme sprigs.
Serve immediately.
If you tried this recipe, please come back and let us know how it was!
Notes
*It is common to find butternut squash already cut into cubes in the produce section. They are fairly hard to chop, so this is a huge time saver!