These Squashes Keep Multiplying

I think I have mentioned before that B and I signed up for a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program this summer. The season is now over, and we are trying to figure out what to do with the six – yes, that’s right, SIX – butternut squashes we have. One a week for the last six weeks of the program. That’s just an awful lot of squash for two people. And believe you me, I’m not even talking about the acorn, spaghetti, and buttercup squashes we also got.

Which leads me to one question. Okay, two questions.

1) How in hell are we supposed to use all this butternut squash?

2) Is the plural of squash “squashes,” or is it just “squash”?

The answer to the first question is half easy. Give as many of them away as possible. Then experiment.

So we gave three squash away. (And I think there is the answer to my second question. Squash, not squashes.) Then we cut one up and roasted it like I roast potatoes – olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper and my absolute favorite herb mix, Italian seasoning.

Yeah, not so good.

Tonight, we made butternut squash risotto. I found the recipe on epicurious.com. It got a rating of 3 1/2 forks (out of 4), and 94% of the people who rated it would try it again (out of 121). Sounds like a sure thing.

Here’s the recipe, then I’ll tell you what I learned:

Ingredients

• 1 small Butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 small onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 large garlic clove, sliced thin
• 1 1/4 teaspoon minced, peeled fresh gingerroot
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup Arborio rice
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
• Shredded parmesan cheese 

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Halve squash lengthwise and discard seeds. Peel one half and cut into 1/4 inch dice. Put remaining half, cut side down, in an oiled shallow baking pan with the diced squash, and season with salt and pepper. Bake squash in middle of oven, stirring the diced squash occasionally, until tender and browned lightly (15-20 minutes). Holding halved squash in a kitchen towel, scoop out flesh and chop coarse.
3. In a saucepan bring broth and water to a simmer and keep at a bare simmer.
4. In another saucepan cook onion, garlic, and gingerroot in butter over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened. Stir in rice and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, about 1 minute. Add wine and cook, stirring, until absorbed. Stir in 1/4 cup broth and cook, stirring constantly and keeping at a simmer throughout, until absorbed.
5. Continue simmering and adding broth, about 1/4 cup at a time, stirring constantly and letting each addition be absorbed before adding next, until about half of broth has been added.
6. Stir in diced and chopped squash and continue simmering and adding broth in same manner until rice is tender and creamy-looking but still al dente, about 18 minutes.
7. Stir in chives and salt and pepper to taste.
8. Spoon risotto into 2 shallow serving bowls and garnish with chives and shredded parmesan.

So what did I learn?

Even though it sounds like it will work, you can’t really use a garlic press to press gingerroot. Unless you only want the juice. It squeezes all the juice out of it, leaving you with a pretty dry piece of solid ginger. Stick to the microplane. It’s awesome for a reason.

If you want to use a garlic press on the garlic, instead of slicing it thinly, go right ahead. It doesn’t make a difference in this recipe. In fact, it probably saves lives. Okay, well, it probably just saved me from slicing my finger open once again. But that’s important too.

On a more serious note, don’t forget to add the squash in at the midway point, as instructed in the recipe. Don’t wait until the end. Otherwise the squash won’t be quite cooked enough. Or as B said, cook it longer in the oven. Sure, great idea, B. But that’s presuming I’m going to know in advance that I’m going to miss that step.

I would probably skip the water, using more broth instead, then use even more broth. The rice was a little too al dente (meaning not quite cooked enough), and the chicken broth didn’t over power it, so I see no reason to use a combination of water and broth. Unless you run short of broth.

Aside from both the rice and the squash being slightly underdone, it wasn’t all that bad. Instead of as a main course, we ate it as a side with roasted turkey tenderloin and it was pretty good. I have some risotto left over and I plan to use it to make risotto cakes later this week. My plan is to reheat it first, adding some more broth to try to compensate for its less than cooked thoroughly aspect, then form it into cakes and pan fry. I’ll keep you posted…

That leaves us with one more Butternut squash. Any suggestions? No? Well, here’s to hoping it keeps until Thanksgiving.