BUTTERNUT SQUASH CHARDONNAY RISOTTO & MUSHROOMS, a recipe by Home-Reared Chef!

A dish inspired by Chef Ina Garten’s recipe, “Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto.”

I used to often wonder if I, a simple home-maker — a Home-Reared Chef, without culinary school education, though raised to cook by instinct — could create dishes just like the ones I saw on pictures in magazines or “copy-cat” the artistic talents of say the likes of Julia Child and Ina Garten. Did I dare see what results I could achieve? Certainly! Because isn’t that what being a real cook is all about?

Creating new dishes, improving on flavors and textures — looking to raise the bar to new heights — is no different than painting a picture or writing a love song. Cooking, even the simplest of dishes, is art composed from the heart and soul. So here is another artwork of mine; a take on taste buds .

RATING: 5 (out of 5) oh-so delicious tasting Wooden Spoons!

Note: Recipe below (ingredients and directions) is written with alterations from the original recipe found on the Food Network site.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

Steps 1:

2 medium butternut squash, enough to measure about 8 cups

1/4 cup olive oil

Gray salt

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Peel the butternut squash, remove the seeds, and cut it into about 3/4-inch cubes. In a bowl toss the cubed squash with the olive oil, gray salt and balsamic vinegar. Roast for 30 minutes, toss once, and roast for another 20 to 30 minutes, or until the squash is very tender; set aside.

(Meanwhile squash is roasting work on “Steps 2”)

Steps 2:

2 tablespoons butter

1-1/2 pounds mushrooms, [brown and/or white] sliced thickly

Gray salt to taste

Red chili flakes, to taste

Onion powder, sprinkling to taste

Garlic powder, sprinkling to taste

1/4 cup cream sherry

In a large, heavy and deep sauté pan, on medium-high heat, melt butter. When butter is sizzling add mushrooms, stirring very infrequent so that they brown. When mushrooms begin to turn golden add salt, chili, onion and garlic powders, and sauté until they are nicely browned; add sherry and cook until it is mostly evaporated; set mushrooms aside out of pan. (You will be using the same pan to cook the bacon and risotto.)

Steps 3:

4 slices thick-cut apple-wood smoked bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

In the same deep and heavy sauté pan, on medium-high heat, fry bacon until nice and crispy; take bacon out and join with the mushrooms (reserving the renderings in the pan for use in frying the rice); set aside.

Steps 4:

Bacon renderings

1 small onion, finely chopped

8 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 1/2 cups Arborio rice (10 ounces)

1 cup [good quality] chardonnay

6 cups chicken stock, heated in a medium pot, and kept hot on low-heat

In the same sauté pan, on medium heat, add the onion to the hot bacon grease and fry until translucent; add the garlic and rice and fry, stirring often, until rice is just turning golden-brown. Add the wine and cook until it is almost all evaporated. Add hot chicken stock, 2 ladles at a time, making sure liquid is almost all absorbed before adding another couple of ladles. Holding at an obvious simmer, stir rice often, cooking until the stock is absorbed. Continue cooking until the rice is cooked through, to al dente or desired consistency, about 30 minutes; turn off heat.

Steps 5:

2 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup of heavy cream

Roasted butternut squash

Sautéed mushrooms

Fried bacon pieces

1 cup shredded Jarlsberg cheese

1/3 cup of grated Parmesan cheese

Off the heat: add the butter and stir well so that it all melts, then add the cream, roasted squash, mushrooms, bacon, and cheeses; mix well and serve alongside a salad or grilled meat and slices of bread.

Buen provecho!