I’ve always had an unexplicable struggle with properly cooking rice. I even have a rice cooker and still manage to mess it up (yes, it’s sad). That’s why when I had a craving for risotto, I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out. Luckily for me, my mom has made risotto many times so she knew when to add more liquid, when to stir, etc. which made the process go much smoother.

Plus, throw some butternut squash and white wine into basically anything and it will taste good.

One pleasant surprise I got from this recipe is how creamy it turned out to be. Besides a small amount of butter and some parmesan cheese, there’s no added thickeners or dairy, it’s just the slow simmer of all the ingredients which makes it so perfect.

For this recipe I was fortunate since I planted some fresh sage in my backyard at the beginning of the season. I’ve never done much cooking with sage but it made a big difference—don’t substitute dried sage instead, it’s just not the same. This recipe is adapted from Martha Stewart’s website.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1 medium-sized butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• Coarse sea salt and ground black pepper
• 1 cup Arborio rice
  
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 4 cups vegetable broth, mixed with 1/2 cup water and heated
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
• 1 tbsp. chopped fresh sage, plus sprigs for garnish
  

Method

In a medium heavy-bottom saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add squash; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until edges soften, 6 to 8 minutes.

Add rice; stir to coat. Add white wine; cook until almost all liquid has evaporated, 1 to 2 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium-low and add 1/2 cup hot broth mixture. Cook, stirring frequently, until almost all liquid has been absorbed. Add remaining broth mixture 1/2 cup at a time, stirring until liquid is absorbed before adding more, 35 to 40 minutes total. You want to prevent any rice from burning or sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Stir in Parmesan, sage, and salt to season, if desired. Serve immediately garnished with shaved Parmesan and a fresh sprig of sage.