Our family, like many, has always had some special Thanksgiving traditions. One is what we fondly referred to as “The Pie Fest”. When my grandmother was alive, she always made the pies. One thing Gran always wanted to do was make everyone feel special and included. At Thanksgiving, her way of showing this was to make everyone’s favorite pie. I can remember years where we had upwards of sixteen pies, no joke. She would always make a chocolate pie for my sister, pecan for my grandfather, lemon for my cousin, and so on. As we all got married and new spouses entered the family, she would ask their favorite and add it to her list each year. When my cousin, Wendi, married Pat it was discovered he didn’t like pie. Undaunted, my grandmother proceeded to add chocolate chip cookies to her repertoire, just for him. Gran had one of the warmest, most generous hearts of anyone I knew, and there is no doubt in my mind that my love for cooking has much to do with her. I miss her more than words can express. In a touching testimony to how much we all loved her – no one wanted to make the pies last year, our first holiday without her. We just couldn’t do it. Our desserts were cake, cookies, and cheesecake.
Lest you think my family has a Norman Rockwell quality, I should explain that we also have an offbeat sense of humor coupled with a lack of filters. It’s a dangerous combination, and at times I have been outright traumatized by the conversation that crops up at the dinner table. For example, the year my grandparents thought THIS setting was the most appropriate place to discuss the more intimate details of their private life. Admittedly, I can’t recall much of that conversation, as I spent most of it holding my hands over my ears and rocking back and forth in my chair. Perhaps what I’m thankful for this year is the fact that my Levitra-fueled grandfather will be spending the holiday with his new girlfriend’s family. They recently returned from a Hawaiian cruise, and that conversation would send me to therapy, for sure.
In general, though, our holiday involves far too much brown food, an afternoon of bocce ball (weather permitting), a long walk after dinner, then some rowdy games of pinochle (or these days, Rock Band on the Wii) when it gets dark. We usually eat the main dinner midafternoon, then spend the rest of the evening grazing on the leftovers. We sleep well. We enjoy each other. We all stay overnight at my parents’ house, then go cut their Christmas tree the next morning after a big breakfast. We spend that evening decorating it for them with all the ornaments of our childhood. I think we all just want to hang on to each other a little bit longer; no one is really ready for it to end.
In that same spirit of togetherness, I am going to spend the next few blog entries doling out recipes for Thanksgiving sides and desserts. It is my fond hope that this season, you will all have tables overladen with food and be surrounded by the faces that you love. In my family, those faces need to be fed and will get a little feisty with the wine hitting an empty stomach, so here we go.
Butternut Squash Risotto. In itself, it can be a labor of love. Risotto can sometimes be a difficult dish, with its many steps and tricky ingredients. This recipe, from Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa collection, is one of my favorites, both for its simplicity and the fact that you roast the squash. Many recipes call for you to boil and puree the squash, but the flavor improvement roasting the squash cannot be overstated. I personally roast mine with some fresh rosemary (dried rosemary is fine, as well). The additional herb works well in this risotto, and amplifies the “Thanksgiving” taste of the dish. Should you choose to go that route, simply add 2 tablespoons of chopped, fresh rosemary (or 2T crushed, dried rosemary) to your ingredient list, and toss it together with the squash cubes before you roast it. If you aren’t a big fan of shallots, that ingredient can be substituted with 1 cup of diced onion. Finally, if your oven is going to be busy on Thanksgiving day, you can easily roast this squash the night before, puree it, then refrigerate to add the next day.
Ingredients
1 butternut squash (2 pounds)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and Pepper (to taste)
6 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
2 ounces pancetta, diced
1/2 cup minced shallots (2 large)
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice (10 ounces)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon saffron threads
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Peel the butternut squash, remove the seeds, and cut it into 3/4-inch cubes. You should have about 6 cups. Place the squash on a sheet pan and toss it with the olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, tossing once, until very tender. Set aside.
Meanwhile, heat the chicken stock in a small covered saucepan. Leave it on low heat to simmer.
In a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and sauté the pancetta and shallots on medium-low heat for 10 minutes, until the shallots are translucent but not browned. Add the rice and stir to coat the grains with butter. Add the wine and cook for 2 minutes. Add 2 full ladles of stock to the rice plus the saffron, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Stir, and simmer until the stock is absorbed, 5 to 10 minutes. Continue to add the stock, 2 ladles at a time, stirring every few minutes. Each time, cook until the mixture seems a little dry, then add more stock. Continue until the rice is cooked through, but still al dente, about 30 minutes total.
Mash or puree roasted squash cubes. Off the heat, add squash and Parmesan cheese. Mix well and serve.
Additional Decorative Idea – Risotto Stuffed Pumpkins. For those of you with the artistic touch, serving this dish in small pumpkins or acorn squash adds a very festive touch to each plate. While the risotto cooks, cut tops off pumpkins or squash. Using a large spoon, scoop out seeds and strings. Place pumpkins or squash upside down in a pan with 1/3 inch of water. Bake for 15 minutes. Carefully turn them over so they are upright and return to oven until flesh is tender when pierced with a fork, about 5 to 10 more minutes. Another idea is to bake a larger pumpkin and serve all of the risotto from that, as a table centerpiece.
