A Curiously clever combination: butternut squash risotto and NZ wines
I love butternut squash. I love its sweetness, its softness, and its beautiful orangey colour. I love risotto too, and the combination of both of them is one of my favourite meals. I happened to mention to the lovely Matt, fellow blogger and ’Wine Evangelist’ (I love that title) at Curious Wines that I was going to knock up a butternut squash risotto and he very kindly offered to send me a couple of wines to taste with it. ‘I can’t taste wine’, was my initial reaction, but with the promise of help and tasting notes, I felt much better. Was I in? Too bloody right I was.
#1′s homecoming from bleeding his Grandparents dry in England seemed a good enough time for a little celebration, so I put the vino on ice and set about making the butternut risotto:
1 butternut squash
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
7 or 8 sage leaves, finely chopped
Butter
1 onion, finely chopped
350g risotto rice (arborio or carnaroli)
2 litres chicken stock
Parmesan, grated, and some for serving
So preheat the oven to 200/gas 6. Peel and deseed the squash and cut into cubes. Spread the pieces out on a baking tray and drizzle with a little olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle over about half of the finely chopped sage leaves:
Roast for about 30 mins or until soft and slightly caramelised. You can do this in advance and allow the squash to cool, if you like:
For the risotto: allow the stock to come to a simmer in a saucepan, then keep warm on a low heat on the hob:
Grab a heavy based pan, put it on a low heat and melt a tablespoon of butter. Glug in some olive oil (about 2 tbsp should do it), then gently fry the onion until it’s translucent (try my trick of adding a pinch of caster sugar to stop it browning too quickly). Then add in the rice, stirring around until it’s all glossy.
Add half the squash and the finely chopped sage. Now just keep adding ladlefuls of stock, one at a time, stirring constantly and making sure all the liquid is absorbed before adding another. When all the stock is gone – this might take half an hour or so – the risotto should be nice and creamy, still with a teeny bit of bite to it.
Now add in the rest of the squash and stir in the rest of the sage (the smell is amazing). Turn the heat off, have a quick taste and season generously, then stir in another knob of butter, and a handful of grated parmesan, put the lid on and leave it to sit until you’re ready to serve. Finally, ladle the risotto into warm bowls, topping with some grated parmesan, and serve:
Now to the wine. Our first contender was the Waipara Springs Premo Dry Riesling 2006 (€12.99 from Curious Wines), and wow did this baby surprise me. I think the last time I tried Riesling it was some medium German shocker (you can read all about what Curious Wines’ Mike has to say about Riesling here), but this was amazing – so zingy it was almost fizzy on your tongue. We’re no wine buffs, but could actually taste something citrusy, (#1 had a sip and reckoned he could taste grapefruit – and do you know what? It was actually on the tasting notes – he’s far too young to be this good) and the crisp, acidity was a perfect foil for the creamy sweetness of the risotto. Yum.
Onto the next one, then. Next up was the Tussock Pinot Gris 2007 (€14.99 from Curious Wines). You can read Matt’s notes about Pinot Gris here. This was a different kettle of fish. You could see instantly that it was much darker in colour, and for those of you who might find the Waipara Springs a little too sharp, this was much softer and really, really pleasant, although still retaining a crispness that again complemented the risotto perfectly. Try as we might, though, our dodgy palettes couldn’t make out the promised pear/apple notes – but I think that was our fault rather than the wine – and there was a lingering aftertaste that I can’t describe (help, Matt!) but that was absolutely delicious. Although this was lovely with food, we could well imagine polishing this one off whilst tucked up on the sofa in front of Lie to Me.
Sadly, after finishing two bottles of wine between us, I can’t read many of my notes and lost one of the pieces of paper, but the Waipara Springs definitely came in the winner with an impressive score of 16/20. So that’s it, then, my first ever wine tasting. I’d like to thank Mike and Matt for their patience, copious notes, encouragement… and the free wine, oh and for the slightly giggly game of poker that followed. Bless you.
18 Responses to “A Curiously clever combination: butternut squash risotto and NZ wines”
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It looks relaly nice and your wine review, makes me want to start drinking … but it’s only 11.30am.
PS – Love your wine glasses … and my sister has those plates!
Laura: Really? I love them.. They’re a really old Denby pattern I think, but I think they’re kind of sweet and rustic. The kids hate it when I get them out because I won’t let them stick them in the dishwasher, so it means handwashing… groan… x
Lulu: I think my lingo let me down, but it was really good fun trying to see what we could detect in the wine before looking at the notes. Highly recomment you try the Riesling – really amazing!
Growup: That sounds good. I’ve got a great butternut squash and chickpea curry recipe that I keep meaning to post too.
[...] rated alongside the Waipara Springs Dry Riesling (a good match in itself), by our favourite mammy from England. And if you really want to spoil yourself, the best match possible comes from Alsace – [...]
Jelly: Yeh, I couldn’t believe it when it turned out that Maxi was a whizz in the kitchen. I’ve got his recipe for dried mushroom risotto on my list to publish too x
Baino: Ooh, that sounds lovely. Hubby doesn’t do creamy sauces so I never get to try lubly stuff like that (unless he’s away!). Haha really? How spooky is that?! Yup, he’s a very nice chap x
Brighid: Ah, those boxes are fatal! Once you’ve opened it you have no idea how much you’ve drunk. I’m always tempted to cut a hole in the top and stick a little straw in there…
I never get given free wine.
Nutty: Probably ‘cos you’re not as necky as me and don’t ask!
Sel: Welcome! I’ll write it down and see if I can find it, thanks for the tip.
[...] Nelson Pinot Gris. I gather that she was surprised at how good the Riesling was. Here’s her full review, and below is the scrumptious recipe we just had to [...]