Barefoot Bloggers – Butternut Squash Risotto
Wednesday evening…
I am feeling quite foolish right now. There are times when I just know better but my stubbornness takes a hold of me. I was looking forward to this week’s Barefoot Blogger‘s recipe, Butternut Squash Risotto chosen by Rachel of Rachel Likes to Cook. I was really looking forward to it, but for some reason, because of my recent obsession with healthier eating (not really recent but more apparent because I am really really trying to lose some weight!!) I decided to experiment with Brown Rice Risotto. Let’s just say that after an hour of stirring and over 6 cups of chicken broth, my “risotto” is still crunchy. We are hungry and I am not happy.
Later that night…
Needless to say…I should have known that trying to cook brown rice this way would take an extremely long time. And it did…so two hours later (I could be exaggerating here, but close), my husband and I finally sat down to a rustic and delicious bowl of Butternut Squash Brown Rice Risotto (the kids ended up eating Mac and Cheese in a blue box a lot earlier in the evening). The “risotto” actually really turned out delicious. I started by sauteing the shallots with diced al fresco Sweet Apple Chicken Sausage (instead of pancetta), then adding the brown rice to the mix. Basically I followed the rest of the recipe as written (minus the butter, sub a little olive oil), it just took a lot more time and chicken broth.
The pictures of the risotto did not turn out looking very appetizing, so I made an executive decision not to post them…but I will say that after the effort it took to cook this, it was true comfort food on a rainy night. I will probably make it again, but with Arborio rice – the real risotto – instead. Well maybe…we’ll see…
Are you following me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest? If you’d like to subscribe to Aggie’s Kitchen and have each post delivered straight to your e-mail box, then please add your email here. Happy cooking!
There are affiliate links in this post. I make small earnings through any purchases made through these links. Thank you for supporting Aggie’s Kitchen!
Actually I’m so glad you tried this! I had the thought but wondered just how long it would take. I’ll give it a try but now I know that it will take two hours. I wonder if you couldn’t bake it and just stir in some broth every half hour or so…. It sounds wonderful with the sausage!
Wow- that is dedication! The brown rice version sounds delicious, good for you for giving it a healthy turn!
Healthy and delicious! Who cares if it doesn’t look as good as Ina’s 🙂
I love the addition of the chicken sausage…I’ll bet that was tasty. I actually remember a recipe for a baked risotto in one of my cookbooks that used brown rice-I’ll have to look for it.
That was a good experiment, Aggie. Thanks for taking the guess work out for us! 🙂
They make brown risotto rice?
Cool.
All good things come to she who waits…I’m glad that after all that time your risotto turned out wonderful. It came be stressfull, waiting, wondering and crossing your fingers.
Oh well. I love brown rice but it takes so darn long to cook! Glad your dinner ended up turning out well, and I probably would have salivated at your photos anyway 🙂
I love brown rice and that sounds delicious to me! That is a long time however to cook. And the sausage sounds great with it!
Aggie, may I suggest using the microwave rice cooker? It does a great job with not-so-easy-to-cook brown rice varieties. Soaking ahead does help, but I don’t bother…
Good for you for trying it with brown rice. I still have never tried making risotto. Sorry the pictures didn’t turn out but luckily your dinner did.
I love risotto. I haven’t tried this version yet. You definitely need patience with risotto. Kuddos to you. I would have given up. I’m with you trying to eat healthier too! Now I know about the brown rice on this one.
Sounds so good, delicious and with perseverance you prevailed… you go girl!!!
I like it with the addition of sausage! That definitely took some dedication to keep going and finish up for a delicious meal. I am glad you gave it a try. As long as you enjoyed it then it was worth it.
I didn’t even know they had brown risotto! I’d be really interested in that. Glad you still liked it. Sometimes the ugliest of foods are the most delicious!
~Cat
Thanks for all the nice comments! I’m laughing b/c you all have no idea how close I came to throwing it all out and ordering pizza! But I would have totally cringed at all the waste…I’m glad I waited it out…it really was good.
And to clarify, I didn’t use a special brown risotto (if there is one out there I would love too!), I used plain long grain brown rice. I’m hoping Veronica finds her recipe of the baked risotto so I can try that out!
: )
I like the sound of a brown rice risotto! Nice and healthy. Was it a creamy as a white rice risotto?
this dish sounds really good, i am sure it was! funny how things i bake taste better than they look!:)
LOL about your pictures. This sounds delicious and I can’t wait to try it!
I had the same problem recently with a delicious bowl of pumpkin oatmeal. Tasted good, not so photogenic!