Food: The Final Frontier: Rice is nice...

...but liquor is quicker! Today, you get the best of both worlds with some tasty Saffron and Squash Risotto. A touch above easy but nothing too complicated, with a very comforting and creamy result:

I had this all by itself (a horrid thought to you raging carnivores out there) with a lovely glass of wine. Beringer Pinot Noir, if you must know. I don't know if you're supposed to have risotto with red, white, or grappa, but this sounded tasty.

I don't know about you people, but I have always found rice to be a tad intimidating. Perhaps this is because my parents always argued over how to cook it:

"Why are you lifting up the lid? I told you that Grandma NEVER touched the lid until after 20 minutes! Has it been 20 minutes? Well? Has it?"
"I'm just checking to see how it's going! I've never even heard of such a thing! Your mother isn't always right, you know."
"Excuse me? She's a SAINT! How dare you! Your rice is doomed and it's all your fault."

You get the point, but they could go on for an hour about that rice. Inevitably, the poor grains didn't always make it out alive.

It probably didn't help that we small babes would hover around and check all the pots when my stepdad wasn't looking. Poor guy didn't even see it coming.

I've now discovered that, for the most part, rice is incredibly easy. And, better yet, you can do so much more than just throw it in a pot with some H2O and wait for your mother to tell you that you're doing it all wrong!

So come along, friends. Let's explore this dish without all the yelling.

You will need:

1 onion (Red, white, yellow, whatever your preference)
3 cloves garlic (or more, depending on how many vampires you're trying to ward off)
1/2 a medium-sized butternut squash
1/2 teaspoon saffron threads, pummeled into dust with your mortar and pestle
5-6 cups chicken broth
2 cups arborio rice
1/2 c white wine
1/2 stick butter
1.5 c shredded parm
Salt + Pepper to taste

Take your onion...

...show it who's boss:

Show the garlic, too, while you're at it. You need to make an example out of these fools or else all the sprouting root things will think they can just walk all over you.

Now, here's the really crafty part: shred the butternut. So innovative! So creative! So not my idea! Thanks to my friend Lydia, whose Italian heritage gave her a one-up here and who gave me the idea. If the butternut was left in chunks it might not cook enough with the rice or you'd have to cook it separately, which takes all the fun/flavor out of the risotto.

So from this....

(eek!)

To this:

Word of caution: don't shred the whole squash. The narrow top half wielded almost 3.5 cups of shredded squash, which turned out to be perfect. Any more and you'll be asking "would you like some rice with your squash?" No bueno.

Throw a heavy-bottomed pot (I used my 5 qt Le Creuset, which was almost too small) with 1/4 c olive oil over medium-high heat. When it's nice and toasty, toss in the onions and garlic.

Saute for a few minutes until soft, then add the squash.

Continue cooking for a few minutes and add the rice.

Stir until all the juices coat the rice, make a well in the center, and add the wine.

Let it cook off for a few minutes before you slowly add the broth. You want to add enough to just cover the rice, but without giving it everything you've got in one go. The idea is to keep it barely submerged until it's pretty much done.

It should look like this most of the time. You can add the saffron at any time.

You want to keep it on medium heat and stir it very often so the rice doesn't get any change to stick to the pan. It should take 15-20 minutes to cook through. Give it a taste, and when it's almost soft enough to be done you want to stop adding liquid but keep the heat on for a few more minutes. You want it to be creamy and very "wet" looking.

If you get concerned and think "Oh golly, is it done? Do I stop cooking? Should I keep going?" Stop having a panic attack and give it a taste. This is your dinner, so just stop cooking when it's a consistency that works for your taste buds!

Now throw in some butter