First and foremost – I really need to up my game with the food pictures. Lately, they’ve been terrible! I mean what is going on here. Promise that the food tasted so much better than what they look like in these pictures.
This week’s seasonal item is butternut squash. In all honesty I’m not a huge fan of butternut squash, or most fall/winter squashes for that matter, but I want to change that! I thought that a good way to enjoy butternut squash is to find recipes that make it the star of the show. This week we’re making Butternut Squash Grilled Cheese with Pickled Fennel by the incredibly talented Justine Doiron, and Saffron Risotto with Butternut Squash by the equally incredibly talented Ina Garten.
My mom and I went to the farmers market together and picked up the ingredients for the grilled cheese to make at my parents apartment (this grilled cheese has been talked about for months and we are just now getting around to it. Needless to say, it has been highly anticipated). We walked around, bought produce, and ate some apple cider donuts to recreate a tradition that we had back when we lived outside the city. Apple cider donuts are so dang good, and the ones we used to buy growing up felt top tier. We also ate a spinach, cheese, and sweet corn empanada that we thoroughly enjoyed (and the following weekend I ate two for breakfast).
I’ll have to make these another day.
The second recipe was inspired by a dish I had years ago at Grotto Restaurant in North Syracuse. It was a butternut squash risotto paired with some sort of white fish. One of the best meals I have ever had! I think my tastebuds were also so fried from the crappy aldi meals and chipotle employee meals that I was getting by with at the time. I’ve thought about this dish for so long and was beyond excited when the idea popped in my head to make it for this week. The risotto recipe is from Ina Garten and is slightly different than what I had at Grotto’s, but I still went with it because of the similar flavors/concept AND I’ve been eyeing Ina Garten’s recipes for a while and wanted to try one out.
I think I’ve yapped enough. Onto the food!
Butternut Squash Grilled Cheese with Pickled Fennel by the Justine Doiron
I don’t think this recipe of hers is public, so out of respect for the author I won’t add the ingredient list or directions. Go buy her cookbook! It’s so worth it.
A few things we picked up from the farmers market!
This was PHENOMENAL. And let me tell you, we kinda messed up with the ingredients and this still came out amazing.
You see I forgot to turn on my reading comprehension switch (or maybe just general reading) and completely missed the continued ingredient list on the opposite page. It was unfortunately too late when I realized that I needed cheddar cheese and heavy cream, but alas we had some milk and Oaxaca cheese and figured it was worth a shot. So yes, our flavor profile was definitely a bit off, BUT I think the recipe still came out pretty well and everyone really enjoyed it. All of those herbs mixed in with the rich butternut squash cheese mixture then contrasted perfectly with the crunchy vinegary fennel and dill. I am suddenly a huge butternut squash fan, I have woken up, and I want to make this recipe for everyone.
5/5. Honestly I can’t wait to make this the correct way next time. And please excuse my end result photos, I need to work on my food photography. Bonus points because the pickled fennel + dill is also fun to snack on. You’re a rockstar, Justine.
Next recipe: Saffron Risotto with Butternut Squash by Ina Garten
As usual, I am forgetting ingredients in my ingredients photo. Farmers markets shallots were the victims today.
Ingredients (4-6 servings):
- 1 butternut squash (2 pounds)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 6 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade [I used veggie broth]
- 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter [I used 4]
- 2 ounces pancetta, diced [Omitted the meat and chopped up shiitake mushrooms and seasoned them with garlic powder, onion powder, and lots of smoked paprika]
- 1/2 cup minced shallots (2 large)
- 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice (10 ounces)
- 1/2 cup dry white wine [I omitted the wine and squeezed in half a lemon at the end instead]
- 1 teaspoon saffron threads
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
WOW – the addition of shiitake mushrooms, garlic powder, onion powder, and smoked paprika, added a chicken like flavor to the risotto. I kept eating spoonfuls, ‘testing’ to see the flavors to a point that I was getting full (as you can see in my half serving above).
Another 5/5 recipe. The butternut squash and risotto combination feels like such a comfort food, it was perfect for the chilly fall day we had in Brooklyn. This recipe definitely reminded me of what I ate at Grotto’s a few years ago. If it wasn’t for that combo I’m not sure if I would have imagined making this recipe today. I think it also pays ode to different ways that great food can have a lasting impact. Eating a quality meal is a gift that keeps on giving.
Safe to say this was a successful trial of becoming a butternut squash fan. I owe it all to the great recipe developers that were able to use butternut squash so creatively and complement it with seasonings and flavors that contrast it so well.
-M3