JP Food: Sea food butternut squash & Sage risotto

From Tallaght, John Paul Kennedy is a self-taught cook with a passion for good old-fashioned home cooking.

I am always trying to find ways to incorporate more fish and seafood into my diet and this recipe I’ve devised hits the mark.

On these colder and darker evenings a bowl of risotto is the perfect comfort food.

The butternut squash adds a delicious sweetness to the dish with earthy sage and delicious nutty parmesan all flavour combinations I adore.

You can of course stop here and serve without the seafood and or add some additional ingredients such as chicken, peas, crispy bacon or toasted pine nuts.

This is a really versatile dish that you can adapt to cater for your own tastebuds.

That said, for that extra bit of luxury and wow factor, I would encourage you to try it with Gubeen chorizo, Scallops or Prawns or both!

Ingredients: (Serves 3-4)

1 Litre of hot vegetable stock

300g of Arborio risotto rice

300g of butternut squash peeled and chopped( I buy this pre – prepared from the supermarket)

2 tablespoons of chopped fresh sage

50g butter

2 shallots finely chopped

½ teaspoon of ground nutmeg

Sea salt & ground black pepper for seasoning

120g of freshly grated parmesan

One ring of Gubeen chorizo / good quality chorizo chopped into cubes

One tray of scallops

One tray of cooked fresh prawns

Method:

1. 1. Pop the butternut squash into a roasting tin with a drizzle of olive / rapeseed oil and roast on a preheated oven at 200 degrees for 15 – 20 minutes.
   2. In a large deep based casserole /cast iron dish pop the butter, shallots, nutmeg and sage in and fry for 10 minutes on a medium heat until softened. Then add in the arborio rice and ensure it’s well coated in the butter and onion mix.
   3. Add about 1/3 of the stock and allow to absorb and repeat this process until all the stock is used up. Season well with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

 

1. Puree the roasted butternut squash and add this to the risotto along with the parmesan cheese and turn off the heat. If you don’t have a blender use a masher; it’s okay if there is a little bit of texture from the butternut squash.
2. Fry off the chorizo in a separate pan until nice and crisp, then fry off the scallops on a hot pan until nice and golden. If using prawns you can add them in now to warm through.
3. Dish up the risotto in your serving bowls and adorn with the scallops and prawns if using either or both and scatter over some freshly chopped parsley – serve and enjoy.

This is a real show-stopping feast for the eyes supper dish that will wow your family and friends.

It is simply delicious, bursting with lots of autumnal, earthy flavours.

As I mentioned before, it’s a very versatile dish, the risotto is the perfect base recipe that you add many different flavour combinations to that suit your own flavour palate!

Please do give it a go, you won’t regret it!

I cannot wait to make this dish over and over again!