I feel like celebrating. It’s been a year (give or take a day or so) since Let’s Stay In hit the bookstores and I’m feeling sentimental. This little book went out to the world with a bit of fanfare and then I just left it to do its thing. Hoping, praying and crossing my fingers that the recipes will find their way into your homes, around your table and perhaps even into the stories of your families. I’ve received so many incredible messages throughout the year that indicate that my prayers were answered.

Thank you for trusting me with your time, your resources and with those precious moments spent around the table. I’m overwhelmed with gratitude today as I reflect on the incredible gift it is to be able to share this work. Just like any job there are many moments where it feels just like work. That’s when I sit back, often head into the kitchen just to cook and revel in the goodness.

Words fail me so let’s just celebrate this little occasion with a warming, special yet delightfully simple dinner. It’s what I’ll be making tonight and I hope you join me. Connecting with you all over recipes really does bring an intimacy that is felt beyond the computer screen.

Thanks for all the support and for enjoying and sharing the work I do. It would not happen without you all.

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Oven Baked Risotto with Butternut Squash and Candied Rosemary Walnuts

Author Ashley Rodriguez

Yield 4-6 servings

As much as I love cooking the reality is most days don’t afford me the luxury of gingerly stirring a pot for an hour with a glass of Pinot in hand. But just because that’s my reality doesn’t mean I can’t have risotto on a regular basis. Enter oven-baked risotto. This no-stir method produces a creamy, satisfying result without all the stirring (don’t worry, you can still have the wine in hand while the oven does all the work). 

The process starts with a cold oven so that pesky preheating isn’t even an issue here. And if fall is a season or two away feel free to skip the squash and candied walnuts and go for say, roasted asparagus with peas. Or how about roasted corn and tomato laced with twangy goat cheese and a few wisps of basil? The adaptability here makes this dinner a perfect candidate for cleaning out your fridge.

Ingredients

4 tablespoons/ 60 g unsalted butter, divided

1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt, divided

1 large onion, diced about 3 cups/ 450 g 

2 teaspoons finely chopped rosemary leaves

1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced, about 4 cups / 540 g 

1 1/4 cups/ 250 g arborio rice

4 cups/960 ml chicken or vegetable stock

1 cup/ 240 ml white wine, divided

1 cup/ 10 g finely grated Parmesan

1/2 cup/ 60 g crumbled gorgonzola (optional)

Instructions

Add 2 tablespoons butter to a large skillet. Stir in the onions and rosemary and sauté over medium heat until they just start to color, about 15 minutes. Add the butternut squash and 1/2 teaspoon sea salt then continue to cook for 5 minutes. In a 9×13 baking dish add the rice, stock, remaining 2 tablespoons butter, and 1 teaspoon sea salt then stir in the butternut squash mixture. Place the dish in the middle rack of your oven. Turn the oven to 400°F. Bake the rice for 30 minutes stirring about halfway through. The rice should still be ever so chewy. Remove the rice from the oven then stir in the remaining 1/2 cup white wine and the parmesan. Serve with the candied walnuts and gorgonzola crumbles, if using. Serve while warm.

*Leftovers? Breaded in Panko crumbs leftover risotto fries up beautifully in a skillet with just a bit of oil. Add an egg if the risotto is not wanting to hold together. 

Candied Rosemary Walnuts

1 cup/ 120 g walnuts

1/4 cup/ 50 g sugar

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves

Flake salt

Add the walnuts, sugar, and rosemary leaves to a dry skillet set over medium high heat. Stir occasionally as the sugar melts and caramelizes. Don’t leave the pan as the walnuts and sugar can easily burn. As the sugar starts to melt stir continuously until completely melted and the walnuts have shifted in color. The sugar will start to smoke but continue to cook until deeply caramelized. Carefully dump the caramelized walnuts onto a plate, sprinkle with flake salt then let cool. 

There was a bit of hesitation before I decided to post this recipe. Perhaps because it was so far from what I originally intended to post. I thought in its place I’d talk about walnuts. Having just returned from a trip learning about the process of harvesting they happen to be fresh on my mind. In my plans there was pumpkin yogurt alongside butter-toasted walnuts and then a drizzle of olive oil over the whole lot. There’s still time for that too.

The hesitation could also come from the simplicity of this recipe; it’s really no more than sliced squash roasted with a whisper of sugar then sprinkled with butter browned until nutty and dark. But then there are cocoa nibs – which I realize may not be in everyone’s pantry. So then I worry that this quickly becomes a “fussy” recipe; one that requires a trip to the store and possibly a few mumbled curse words when you get excited to start cooking and then realize you don’t have all its parts. I’d hate for a recipe to be a bother.

But I’m here with squash and cocoa nibs because when I took a bite it gave me a pause and a few flutters of delight which then ignites the instinct to share it with someone else.

If I’m completely honest, hesitation and I have become perhaps too good of friends lately. There is often a pause, just long enough for the action to stop and the voices of doubt to creep in but in this case those voices just seemed crazy, even to me. Because really, who wouldn’t mind another recipe for squash particularly when chocolate (or its roasted bean) is involved?

To remove any sort of the fussiness let’s go ahead and say that although nibs do really play a staring role here perhaps toasted, ummmm WALNUTS might do nicely in their place?! Or pecans. You know what, maybe even peanuts with cilantro scattered on top?! I think you get the idea.

I’m partial to Delicata squash because I love that it doesn’t require peeling. In fact once out of the oven that skin is crisp enough to be pleasant against the softness of the flesh and tender enough to be delicious. But really any squash will do.

It is just the sort of recipe that is simple enough to sit alongside Wednesday’s roast chicken but worthy of snuggling up right next to your holiday bird. Leftovers turn a humble bed of peppery greens into a not-so-humble salad.

Delicata Squash with Brown Butter & Cocoa Nibs

Serves 4 to 6 side servings

The recipe comes from the newly released book, Theo Chocolate which includes all sorts of intriguing sweet and savory recipes that highlight chocolate. The Nibby Crackers are also a favorite. So the lesson of the day is: cocoa nibs are indeed a pantry staple.

1 winter squash (about 2 pounds), halved and seeded*

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon firmly packed dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt*

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 generous tablespoon (about 1/4 ounces) roasted cocoa nibs

flake salt

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Cut the Delicata into 1/2-inch half moons.

Add the squash to a sheet tray and drizzle on the olive oil, kosher salt, and brown sugar. Toss well to coat.

Roast until the squash is tender and the edges are nicely browned, about 30 minutes.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Continue to cook until the foam subsides, you start to see brown specks at the bottom of the pan, and the butter smells nutty. Add the cocoa nibs and cook for 10 seconds just to warm them through, then spoon the mixture over the squash and serve immediately.

*I used two small Delicata squash and actually a bit less kosher salt then listed but added a crunchy flake salt at the end.