Savory Maple and Sweet Potato Risotto

We love real maple syrup to such a degree that we have never allowed the fake stuff into our home, and when venturing out to a restaurant for breakfast, Amy will bring a small container of her cousins' syrup with her. Yes, it's that important. We even used it in a brownie recipe once. So why not in a savory one-pot dinner dish?

We repurposed an old risotto recipe of ours to make it easier. So easy, in fact, that it can be make in one pot. And this recipe, now, has it all: deliciously creamy rice, slightly caramelized chunks of sweet potato, soft onions, an herby savoriness that comes from fresh rosemary, and a delightful hint of sweetness from - you guessed it! - real maple syrup.

As for using maple syrup in a risotto dish? That's just our way to...

We, and the neighbors we shared it with, loved this dish so much we thought we needed to enter it into Pure Canada Maple's "Think Outside the Griddle" contest.

The recipe, as always, is below. Like we said, it's a one-pot wonder, and here's the best thing - it makes lots of risotto. And we have a great idea for the leftovers - make arancini the next day! To do that, just take the chilled leftover risotto, form it into small balls, roll the balls in Italian breadcrumbs and fry in a skillet filled about 1/4-inch of the way up with vegetable oil. Serve with a nice green salad to make another meal!

Savory Maple and Sweet Potato Risotto

Ingredients:

4 cups vegetable broth 

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups (about 1 large) peeled, diced sweet potato

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tablespoon butter

1 cup arborio rice

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary

salt and white pepper to taste

1/4 cup real maple syrup

Place the vegetable broth into a saucepan and place over medium-low heat to become warm. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the diced sweet potato and a pinch of salt and cook until sweet potato starts to brown. Add onions and continue to cook until the onions become translucent. Add the butter and allow it to melt. Pour in the rice and continue to cook, stirring, until rice starts to toast. Add the warm vegetable broth to the rice one ladle at a time, stirring constantly, and waiting until all the broth is absorbed by the rice before adding more. This could take up to one-half hour. When the broth is gone and the rice is done (not too firm, not too mushy), stir in the chopped rosemary and season with salt and white pepper to taste. Turn off the heat, then add the maple syrup, stirring gently so that everything is well combined, then serve and enjoy!

Butternut Squash, Rosemary and Bleu Cheese Risotto

Autumn is here - hoorah, hoorah! Time for soups and roasts, baked goods and casseroles, root vegetables and squash. Time for nostalgia, walks in the woods, mulled cider, apple picking and donuts. Perhaps this poem by Bliss Carman (1861-1929) can express it better:

A Vagabond Song

There is something in the autumn that is native to my blood -- 

Touch of manner, hint of mood; 
And my heart is like a rhyme, 

With the yellow and the purple and the crimson keeping time. 

The scarlet of the maples can shake me like a cry 

Of bugles going by. 

And my lonely spirit thrills 

To see the frosty asters like a smoke upon the hills. 

There is something in October sets the gypsy blood astir; 

We must rise and follow her, 

When from every hill of flame 

She calls and calls each vagabond by name. 

Yes, for two native New Englanders, autumn is a special time, "native to our blood," and this wonderfully creamy and flavorful risotto, made with butternut squash, rosemary and bleu cheese, seemed like the perfect way to celebrate its arrival. 

This particular recipe, one from Bon Appetit (February 2005) was just sitting in our Epicurious recipe box waiting to be discovered on this fine first full day of fall. And how perfect it is for Meatless Monday as well! Just taste it, and you will understand. 

Butternut Squash, Rosemary, and Bleu Cheese Risotto

adapted from this recipe on Epicurious.com

Ingredients:

5-6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 pound butternut squash, peeled, halved, seeded, diced (about 3 cups)
1/2 tablespoon butternut squash seed oil
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, diced (about 1 cup)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary (divided)
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 cups baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup half and half
1/2 cup crumbled bleu cheese

Bring chicken broth to a low simmer over medium heat. In a large bowl, toss diced squash, butternut squash seed oil and olive oil. Spread squash over a cookie sheet and roast at 425 for 15-20 minutes, until cooked through. Melt butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute until translucent and tender, about 5 minutes. Add squash and 1/2 amount of rosemary, and stir until coated with butter; cook another 2-3 minutes. Add rice and stir 2-3 minutes. Add wine and simmer until evaporated, about 2 minutes. Add 4 cups warm broth and bring just to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered until rice starts to become tender. Add remaining broth by 1/4 cupfuls, stirring often, until rice is to desired tenderness. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in spinach and half and half, and again, season to taste. Remove from heat and stir in bleu cheese and remaining rosemary. Serve hot.

Meatless Monday: Sweet Potato Risotto with Spicy Maple Glazed Walnuts *Award-Winning*

Amy writes:

There are moments, albeit few and far between, in every home cook's life when she is pretty impressed with herself. I had one such moment tonight with this week's Meatless Monday recipe "Sweet Potato Risotto with Spicy Maple Glazed Walnuts."

Let me give some important background details. To start with, "meatless" has never really been my thing. I love meat. Of all kinds. But I know that a healthy diet must be balanced, and I know I need to try new things, and I know that going meatless once a week isn't going to kill me (quite the opposite, actually, right?).

Then there's risotto. Regardless of the fact that I once took a cooking class in Rome and have always felt that Italian cooking was one of my "things," I had never made a risotto until I met Chris. Chris taught me the art of making risotto. Or maybe he taught me the skill of having the patience to make risotto. Or maybe he just always makes the risotto when we want to have it at home. Or maybe it's a mixture of all three of these. 

Finally, the sweet potato. It's only within the past couple of years that I've become a fan of this interesting tuber that to me seems so unlike its distant relative the "actual" potato. My mom never made it for me when I was a kid, and it became one of those things I was convinced I didn't like because, frankly, I had never really tried it. Chris loves the things, and kept nagging me to try them, and to cook them. Then last year, we made these amazing little Sweet Potato and Pancetta Gratins, and I was pretty much hooked.

Which brings me to the point that I've been thinking about risotto and Meatless Monday and sweet potatoes for about a week, and this recipe is the end result. It was ready to be served about five minutes after Chris walked in the door, home late from work. He took a bite and I waited. Then, the verdict: "This is one of the best risottos I have ever had." He asked what I did and we picked it apart as if we were our own judges on Top Chef. Sweetness? It has it - from roasted sweet potatoes and hints of maple syrup. Spiciness? Also there - a bit of cayenne in the walnuts puts some heat on the tongue that along with the cinnamon gives warmth and depth to the dish. Herbs? Can I ever make anything without them? I thought rosemary would go nicely with the other flavors, and I was right! And what about textures? Indeed - creamy risotto, crunchy walnuts, soft onions. It's one of the best risottos we've ever had.

Tonight, I guess, the student has become the teacher. And I remain pretty impressed with myself.

For the spicy maple glazed walnuts:

Ingredients:

1 cup roughly chopped walnuts

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

4 tablespoons real maple syrup

Place the walnuts in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the salt, cayenne, cinnamon and pepper and cook 1 minute or so until spices become fragrant and nuts begin to toast. Add the maple syrup and swirl the walnuts in the pan until they are well coated with the spices and syrup. Pour onto a cookie sheet and set aside to cool.

Start with chopped walnuts

Add spices

Add maple syrup

For the risotto:

Ingredients:

4 cups (about 2 medium) peeled, diced sweet potatoes

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

6 cups vegetable broth

1 tablespoon butter

1 medium onion, chopped

1 cup carnaroli rice

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary

salt and white pepper to taste

1/4 cup real maple syrup

Heat the oven to 400 degress. Spread the diced sweet potatoes in one layer in a glass baking pan and drizzle with one tablespoon of olive oil. Toss to coat and roast for 1/2 hour. Meanwhile, pour the vegetable broth into a saucepan and place over medium-low heat to become warm. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and a pinch of salt and cook until onions become translucent. Add the rice and continue to cook until rice starts to toast. Add the warm vegetable broth to the rice one ladle at a time, stirring constantly, and waiting until all the broth is absorbed by the rice before adding more. This could take up to one-half hour. When the broth is gone and the rice is done (not too firm, not too mushy), stir in the chopped rosemary and season with salt and white pepper to taste. Fold in the roasted sweet potato pieces and spiced walnuts, then turn off heat. Add the maple syrup, stir so that everything is well combined, serve and enjoy!

The star ingredient

Sweat chopped onions in olive oil and butter

Add the rice and cook to toast

Patiently add broth one ladle at a time until all liquid is absorbed

Apple Cider, Pancetta and Onion Risotto with Seared Sea Scallops

This meal is one we made from several different pairings of four basic ingredients. Those ingredients are: sea scallops, pancetta (Italian bacon), onion and apple cider. Each ingredient can easily be paired with another for a perfect, common, flavor combination: scallops and bacon; bacon and onions; apple and onions; you get the idea. So how can a cook go wrong by putting them all together?

We seared the scallops (perfectly, if we say so ourselves) by drying them well on a paper towel and putting them in a non-stick pan that has been pre-heated to super-hot (no oil!). The trick is to be patient and NOT to flip them until the pan is letting go. In other words, don't force the flip! If they are sticking, they are not perfectly seared. We sprinkled them with a pinch of pink salt and served them with this risotto that was seasonal and delicious.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

3 ounces diced pancetta

1 cup arborio rice

2 cups apple cider

2 cups water

salt to taste

Pour the apple cider and water into medium saucepan and set over medium-low heat. In a large skillet, heat the oil and saute the onion and pancetta together until they start to caramelize. Add the rice and stir until it begins to toast. Slowly add the cider/water liquid to the rice mixture, one ladle at a time, stirring well and adding more liquid only when the rice soaks up most of what is already in the skillet. Continue this process, stirring constantly, until the apple cider/water mixture is gone and rice is tender. Serve with seared scallops or your choice of protein.