Roasted butternut squash is combined with pancetta, sage, and Parmesan cheese for one delicious side dish.
By Taylor Kadlec
This summer I joined a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) for the first time. If you’re not familiar with what a CSA is, it’s basically where you support a local farmer by paying them up front for a “share” of vegetables and fruit, and then receiving your share from the farm weekly or bi-weekly. As a newbie to this concept of CSA’s, I quickly found out there were pros and cons to this process of purchasing produce. The ‘pros’ included trying new vegetables I had never seen/heard of, having a ton of produce every week, and I felt great knowing that I was supporting a local farmer. The ‘con’s turned out to be that I received a lot of things I’m not a big fan of, I felt like I couldn’t go to the farmer’s market because I was already getting enough produce from my CSA (and I love the farmer’s market!), and some weeks it was an inconvenience to have to pick it up. 
All in all, joining a CSA was a great experience! My favorite part of the whole season was the last two weeks when I got a ton of winter squash. I got so many different types of squash I couldn’t even identify half of them, and there were so many of them I could barely carry them from my car to the house in the bag I had them in!
This risotto is one of my squash-athon recipes and it is definitely my favorite. Besides the star ingredient, the butternut squash, there is pancetta, shallots, sage, and Parmesan cheese, which all combine to make a super tasty and seasonal side dish. It’s a perfect accompaniment to a roasted chicken or turkey on a chilly fall evening.
PrintButternut Squash and Sage Risotto
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 1x
Description
Roasted butternut squash is combined with pancetta, sage, and Parmesan cheese for one delicious side dish.
Ingredients
- 1(2-3 lb) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and diced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 6 cups vegetable broth
- 2 shallots, diced
- 2 ounces pancetta, diced
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 1/2 cups arborio rice
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 2 tablespoons freshly minced sage
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Toss butternut squash in olive oil, then season with salt. Roast in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, tossing after 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a medium pot warm broth over low heat.
- In large heavy duty saucepan or Dutch oven, heat butter over medium heat. Add shallots and pancetta and saute for 10 minutes.
- Add the rice and stir to coat with butter. Add wine and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add 1 cup of broth, salt, and 1 tsp of salt, and cook until broth is absorbed. Stir constantly.
- Continue adding broth, one cup at a time, stirring constantly, until all broth is added.
- Remove from heat them add cheese and butternut squash, and mix well.
- Top with additional Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
