Healthy Recipes – Patty squash and basil risotto
by admin on August 9th, 2009
I get a weekly delivery of seasonal fruit and veg each week from Abel and Cole. It’s a great way to stick to local produce and support the farmers of Britain (not that they only supply British produce, but a good majority of it is).
The exciting thing about the boxes is that you don’t choose what to get; each week is a surprise based on what their suppliers have grown. This also means you are often confronted with an unfamiliar vegetable. Some recent examples include black salsify, Jerusalem artichokes and Romanesco broccoli. Well last week I was surprised to find two scalloped UFO shaped yellow blobs in my box. Checking that they weren’t alive, I recalled the name “patty squash” and thought this seemed a likely match. Turns out I was spot on, they also go by the name pattypan, sunburst and button squash. They’re a variety of summer squash, squashes that have been harvested when still very young. Surprisingly the flesh and rind are all edible, unlike more mature squashes.
Two squashes
And then diced
So what to do with these delicate little baby squashes. I decided a risotto would complement them nicely with a bit of basil to pep up the flavour. My only worry was the water content of the squashes would make them mushy if cooked with the rice and stock so I sauteed the squash separately and added them to the rice at the end.
Serves two
- 2 medium patty squash (or 4 smaller ones if possible)
- 1 medium white onion, finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- Approximately 500ml of chicken or vegetable stock
- Approximately 150g to 200g of Arborio risotto rice
- A handful of fresh basil, chiffonaded
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- A splash of olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- Finely grated Parmesan [optional]
- A small glass of white wine or splash of vermouth / dry sherry [optional]
This is my basic risotto recipe and has served me well for the past few years. Firstly, heat some oil in a heavy bottomed pan over a medium low flame. Add the finely diced onion and gently soften them, stirring occasionally. Once the onions are nearly done, add the garlic for a couple of minutes making sure not to brown it.
Add the butter and rice and stir to fully coat everything with the butter. The rice will become semi-translucent as it absorbs the butter. At this stage deglaze the pan with some white wine / sherry / vermouth (if you wish to), and heat until boiling. Reduce the heat and add all the stock together. Lots of people will argue you need to lovingly spoon a ladelful of stock at a time, I’m with Heston Blumethal on this, don’t bother!
Softening the onions
Adding the stock
Meanwhile, heat a large frying pan with a thin layer of oil to a medium high heat. Prepare the squash by dicing into batons. The joy of these squash is you don’t need to peel them, just wash and keep the rind on. Once the pan is hot, throw all the batons into the pan in one layer and leave them for five minutes to brown a little. After five minutes, turn them and leave for another five. During this time stir the risotto occasionally and top up the stock if needed. Once the squash is nicely brown, turn off the heat.
Sauteeing the squash
Nicely browned
The risotto should be ready after 15 to 18 minutes, I like it with a little bite but it shouldn’t be gritty, try it and see. Once the risotto is done, add the cooked squash and basil and salt and pepper to taste. Optionally, some finely grated Parmesan would be lovely on top. Serve and enjoy, delicious.
The finished product, with basil garnish for extra points
Tags: healthy recipes, pattypan squash, risotto
This entry was posted on Sunday, August 9th, 2009 at 7:58 pm and is filed under Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.