Butternut Squash Risotto with bacon and Sage

This stuff is amazing.  Could be a main dish, but mostly I make it as a filling side dish when we have fish for dinner.  I love it so much that I'm bringing it to Thanksgiving dinner this year.  I like extra sage.  Another Fine Cooking recipe. 

Butternut Squash Risotto with bacon and sage

1 qt. homemade or low-salt chicken broth; more as needed   
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 Tbs. olive oil
10 large fresh sage leaves
4 slices bacon, cut crosswise into thirds
2 medium shallots, minced (about 1/4 cup)
2 cups 1/4-inch-diced butternut squash
1-1/2 cups arborio or other risotto rice, such as carnaroli or vialone nano
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

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Combine the chicken broth and wine in a small saucepan and set over medium heat. In a medium (3-qt.) saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the sage leaves and fry, turning once, until they’ve turned dark green in most places, about 1 minute total. Don’t brown. With a fork, transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to drain. Put the bacon in the saucepan and cook, stirring occasionally, until nicely browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer the bacon to the plate with the sage.

Add the shallots to the saucepan and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until softened, about 1 minute. Add the squash and rice and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Ladle in enough of the hot broth mixture to just cover the rice. Cook, stirring frequently, until the broth is mostly absorbed. Add another ladleful of broth and continue cooking, stirring, and adding more ladlefuls of broth as the previous additions are absorbed, until the rice is tender with just a slightly toothsome quality, about 25 minutes. As the risotto cooks, adjust the heat so that it bubbles gently. The broth mixture needn’t be boiling; it should just be hot. If you use all the broth and wine before the rice gets tender, use more broth but not more wine.

Set aside the nicest looking sage leaves as a garnish (1 leaf per serving). Crumble half of the bacon and the remaining sage leaves into the risotto. Stir in the Parmigiano. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Crumble the remaining bacon over each serving and garnish with a sage leaf.

Catalan Mushrooms

Mushrooms are great for the immune system.  I like that these can be made as a side dish and leftovers used throughout the week to add to eggs, pizza, etc.


Catalan Mushrooms from Fine Cooking

1 lb. medium-size white mushrooms, stems trimmed to 1/2 inch, and quartered
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 Tbs. finely chopped fresh garlic
1 to 2 tsp. coarse salt or sea salt

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Put the mushrooms in a large bowl of cold water to soak for 10 min. Rinse them well and then drain.
Heat a large sauté pan with a tight-fitting lid over medium heat. Add the drained mushrooms to the dry pan, cover immediately, and cook until all the moisture from the mushrooms is leached out, about 20 minutes. You'll know this has happened when you lift the lid for a peek and see the once-dry pan filled with liquid.
Remove the lid, raise the heat to medium high, and boil until the liquid evaporates and the mushrooms begin to sizzle in the dry pan but haven't browned; they'll have shrunk considerably and should be firm when poked with a fork. Lower the heat to medium and stir in 1 Tbs. of the olive oil, the parsley, and the garlic. Sauté, stirring frequently, until the garlic softens, another 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer the mushrooms to a serving bowl, stir in the remaining 3 Tbs. olive oil, and season with salt to taste (I like to salt them liberally). Serve while hot.