Regional Recipe of the Quarter: Butternut Risotto - from Executive Chef, Malika van Reenen, Signal Restaurant, the Cape Grace Hotel
10/1/2009
Below are the metric measurements as given by Chef Reenen as well as the Imperial conversions (in parentheses) that worked for me.
Ingredients:
- 3L (10-12 cups) hot vegetable or chicken stock
- 1kg ( 2 pounds) butternut; cubed & roasted with a cinnamon stick, sprinkling of brown sugar and a knob of butter
- 100ml olive oil (1/2 cup)
- 8 shallots or 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 30ml (2 tablespoons) curry powder
- 500g (2 cups) arborio rice
- salt & pepper to taste
- 150g (3/4 cup) mascarpone cheese
- 100g (1/2 cup) grated parmesan
- 75g (handful) wild rocket (arugula)
Method:
- Cube butternut and roast at 350 degrees with a cinnamon stick, sprinkling of brown sugar and a knob of butter until soft.
- Remove cinnamon stick and set aside half the roasted butternut cubes to add to your cooked risotto.
- Take the rest of the cooked butternut and blend to a smooth pulp using a hand held blender and cup of the stock.
- In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil, add the chopped shallots and garlic, then cook on medium heat until onions become translucent, taking care not to brown them.
- Add curry powder and cook for about 30 seconds.
- Add rice, stirring continually and cook for about 1-2 minutes, again ensuring that it doesn't brown or stick to the pan.
- Gradually add a third of the hot stock, stirring until the rice has absorbed most of the liquid, this should take about 6-7 minutes.
- Continue with the rest of the stock, until all the liquid has been absorbed, this should be a total of 18-21 minutes cooking time for the rice.
- Add the butternut purée, salt, pepper, mascarpone and grated parmesan and stir all the ingredients through.
- Top with the roasted butternut cubes and garnish with wild rocket.