Brenda Food Zone

INGREDIENTS:
6 cups chicken broth
¼ cup unsalted butter, divided
4 ounces pancetta or thick-cut bacon cut into 1-inch pieces
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 cups uncooked short-grain Arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine
1 pound butternut squash, cut into ½-inch dice
1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

6-quart slow cooker
DIRECTIONS:
Grease the inside of the slow cooker with cooking spray.
Pour broth into a medium pot and bring to a simmer over high heat.
In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add pancetta, onion, and garlic; cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until onions are tender. Add rice; cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently, until edges of kernels are translucent. Stir in wine. Cook about 3 minutes longer, stirring constantly, until wine is absorbed. Transfer to the slow cooker.
Add hot broth and squash to the slow cooker and stir in the sage, salt, and pepper. Cover; set it to high heat and let it cook for 2 hours, stirring once halfway through. The risotto is done when the rice is al dente and most of the liquid has been absorbed.
Turn off the slow cooker. Stir in the bacon, Parmesan, and remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Serve immediately

Ingredients
For the vegetable stock
200 g carrots chopped
200 g yellow onion chopped
200 g celery chopped
1 bayleaf
4 lt water
For the butternut squash
1 butternut squash or other type of pumpkin or squash
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Thyme sprigs
For the risotto
100 g yellow onion finely chopped
1 tsp thyme leaves
2 bayleaves
1 cup Carnaroli or Arborio rice
150 ml white wine
250 g butternut squash purée
Vegetable stock
40 g freshly grated Parmesan cheese Grana Padano or Parmigiano Reggiano
20 g unsalted butter cold
½ tsp lemon zest
To garnish
Fresh organo leaves
Extra Parmesan cheese Grana Padano or Parmigiano Reggiano
Instructions
For the stock
Place everything in a large pot and bring to a simmer.
Let simmer for 30min and strain.
For the butternut squash
Cut the butternut squash in half and use a spoon to remove the seeds. Make a criss-cross pattern using a knife on the inside so the heat, olive oil and salt can pe*****te.
Place both halves on a baking dish with the inside facing upwards. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the thyme sprigs on top so they flavour the squash.
Cook in a preheated oven at 200C / 390F for 30-40min or until really soft. You'll know it's done because a knife should go straight through the flesh.
Discard the thyme and use a spoon to remove all of the flesh from the butternut squash. Use a blender, food processor or immersion blender to puré it. Make sure to use only what the recipe asks for and the rest you can make into soup with the remaining stock from this recipe as well ;).
For the risotto
In a large pot over medium heat drizzle olive oil and use it to cook the onions, thyme, lemon zest and bayleaves. Cook them until they are translucent and smell sweet.
Add the rice and stir for a minute.
Add the white wine and stir until the white wine completely evaporates.
Add 2 ladles of stock (which should be hot ideally) and the butternut squash purée.
Stir constantly until the liquid evaporates and then add more stock. Keep adding 1 ladle of stock at a time and stirring until the rice is cooked al dente. You will have to try it in the process and eat a few raw rice grains but it's worth it!
Finish with the parmesan cheese and butter. Taste and add pepper and more salt if needed.
Assess if you need to add some final ladle of stock. The texture should be such that if you ran a spoon or spatula down the center of the pot the risotto should easily cover the space back up.
Serve immediately and garnish with fresh oregano leaves and extra Parmesan cheese.