Autumn Recipes from the Garden

15 October 2019 By Victoria Burnell

Recipes >
Autumn Squashes - Risotto Recipe
It’s that time of year again when the days are drawing in and these cold, dark and often wet evenings call for one thing, a good comforting autumn meal with your family and friends. What’s more, the seasonal produce at this time of year make the perfect ingredients for hearty, warming meals. Vegetables such as butternut squash, leeks, onions, mushrooms and parsnips are all bountiful at this time of year. These veggies may seem a bit dull; however, if used correctly, they can be cooked in a multitude of ways for a delicious seasonal meal.
 
One of the best ways to use up all the veg in your garden or fridge at this time of year is in a risotto, a dish that everyone in your family will love. Here is our delicious recipe for roasted vegetable risotto.

Roasted Vegetable Risotto Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into cubes
  • 3 sticks of celery chopped
  • 1 leek chopped roughly
  • 1 red onion
  • 300g of mushrooms
  •  2 white onions diced
  • 300g of risotto rice
  • Splash of white wine
  • 1 litre of hot stock (to make this vegetarian or vegan you can change the stock you use)
  • Parmesan for serving (to make this recipe vegan – leave this out)
  • To season: garlic, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C degrees.

  2. Roughly chop all of the vegetables other than the white onions and throw them in a big roasting tin. Top with a good glug of olive oil, salt, pepper, two crushed cloves of garlic, rosemary and thyme and mix all together. Put them in the oven for 40 minutes until browned and tender.

  3. Put a pan on the hob with a little olive oil. Finely chop the white onions and put them in the pan. If you are a garlic lover this is when you can add another clove or two to the recipe. Stir the onions and any additional garlic until browned slightly. 

  4. Add the risotto rice to the pan. Keep stirring so it does not stick. The rice needs to cook a little before adding liquids – you will know when it is cooked when the edges of the rice have gone slightly transparent.

  5. When it reaches this point, you can pour in a splash of white wine. This will create a lovely smell as the alcohol burns off. Then start adding the hot stock a ladle at a time, allowing the rice to absorb the stock before you add more. Keep doing this until all the stock is used and your rice starts to look like risotto! If you run out of stock just add a little hot water from the kettle.

  6. When your vegetables are cooked and rice is ready, simply mix it all together. Top with parmesan and enjoy.

Tags: Autumn Recipes, Roasted squash, risotto