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Pumpkin Beer Risotto

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Happy Friday, Y’all!  Before we get into all that I have to ramble on about tell you, I have to explain that I’ve got a bit behind on things with this here website – I’m looking at you, Jennifer – after all you are my most loyal stalker friend!

 

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The truth of the matter is we’ve had a bit of family troubles.  Chris’s dad has been in the hospital. He’s a widower and lives alone now.  We’ve spent a lot of time in the evenings driving 45 minutes to his house to take care of things and check the mail, then going 1.5 hours away on the weekends to visit.  The good news is that there is some progress, and hopefully he’ll be home soon.  And I’m kind of exhausted.

My public service announcement here is: please get your estate planning documents in place. That’s it.From your friendly neighborhood attorney.

 

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So, moving on to Pumpkin Beer Risotto!  We are just hours away from Halloween, so pumpkin is required.  However…..

 

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I have to confess and do the FULL DISCLOSURE here…

 

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I actually do not like Halloween.  It’s creepy.  I can’t stand the Monster Mash and scary movies make me suck my thumb and hide under the covers.  Don’t even ask me about that dang clown from Poltergeist. The original one.

 

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Call me a buzz kill or a party pooper, but I’m totally afraid of the dark and I DO NOT like scary stuff. Seriously, that stuff keeps me awake for months!  Sometimes years!  Ok.  We’ll talk about it. Poltergeist clown – I’m so scared of you!  I can’t get out of my bed in the middle of the night without thinking about that murderous clown under the bed.  I used to do a run-fly-jump into the bed when I had to get up in the night.  Chris would fly 2 feet into the air and be all “damn chick!” but now I have a flashlight.  Just like Jennifer’s 8 year old son.  Yay me!

 

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I’ve talked about this ridiculousness before, but it was back when only my mom and Jennifer were reading this here website.  So, y’all probably are not quite as informed as they are about my hot mess issues sensitivities.

 

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Seriously, the only things about Halloween I like are the candy, pumpkins, and Hocus Pocus!  Amuk! Amuk! Amuk!

 

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Pumpkin Beer Risotto

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 shallot diced
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 cup arborio rice
  • 1 12 ounce bottle pumpkin ale - I used Southern Tier Pumpking
  • 4 cups chicken stock
  • 1/2 can 15 ounce can of pure pumpkin puree
  • 1 cup grated parmesan additional for topping

Instructions

  1. Melt butter into olive oil over medium heat
  2. Pour chicken stock into a pot and heat on low, keep warm
  3. Add shallot, cook for 1-2 minutes
  4. Add garlic, cook another 1 minute
  5. Add rice, cook and stir until coated, and cook another 2 minutes
  6. Pour in beer and cook until absorbed, about 1 - 2 - minutes
  7. Add chicken stock 1/2 cup at a time, make sure absorbed before next addition, before last 2 additions, add pumpkin and stir until combined. Keep adding chicken stock until all is absorbed and rice is creamy
  8. Stir in parmesan
  9. Garnish with parmesan

 

Roasted Butternut Squash and Carrot Pasta

by 40 Comments

What’s up, butternut?  Y’all, we are just a few weeks away from Halloween, so it seems like the time is right to have this little talk.

 

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Full Disclosure:  I’m totally terrified of spiders.  It’s real.  And I’m sure I’m not alone.  But they are EVERYWHERE with their creepy little giant sticky webs.  Totally grody.  I absolutely despise the nasty sticky webs.

 

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Chris built me some raised garden beds for my birthday on the sunny side of our house. Unfortunately, a spider moved in and started building webs that connect the neighbor’s tree to my tomato plants.  Not cool, creepy spider.  Not cool at all.

 

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Seriously, that dang spider built that web every single day.  And every single day I walked through it. Every. Single. Day.  No fail.  You would think I’d learn?  Remember? Nope.  And let me tell you that when I walk through a spider web it ain’t pretty.  There’s lots of screaming and cursing going on and it starts with OMG SPIDER! SPIDER!  And I get more exercise in 12.73 seconds than I do in a week.

 

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After that I’m less amused.  It goes more along the lines of Mother %$*# and lots of crying about the spider webs in my hair.  It also includes jumping around and begging Chris to make sure that there are no spiders in my hair or climbing up my back.  It’s a hot mess.  At least I’m a hot mess.

 

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So the other day I was minding my own business, listening to the 80’s station on satellite radio, and driving to work.  There it was.  That nasty spider appeared out of nowhere IN MY CAR!  It’s creepy little self was dangling on its web from the ceiling/roof in front of my horrified eyes.  It was getting lower and lower – closer and closer.  Obviously I was a danger to myself and others, so I had to pull over.  It wasn’t pretty.

 

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If you happened to be driving in Charlotte last week and saw a lunatic in a black suit and heels jump out of her car and run like the devil himself was chasing her….

 

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I don’t know anything about that.

 

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What I do know is that my spider fear has absolutely nothing to do with Roasted Butternut Squash and Carrot Pasta.  That should come as no surprise to you if you have been visiting this site for more than 5 minutes.

 

Happy Monday, y’all!

 

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Roasted Butternut Squash and Carrot Pasta

Ingredients

For the Butternut

  • 2 small butternut squash
  • 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 tablespoons butter

For the Pasta and Sauce

  • 1 onion diced
  • 4-6 garlic cloves minced
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 cup white wine
  • 1 tablespoon sage
  • 1/2 teaspoon thyme
  • 1/4 teaspoon allspice
  • 2 1/2 cups chicken stock - or vegetable stock
  • 2 cups butternut
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
  • salt and white pepper to taste
  • 4 carrots peeled and biased sliced into 1/4 inch pieces
  • Parsley and parmesan to garnish
  • 5 carrots peeled and sliced on the bias in 1 inch pieces
  • 1 pound Rotini or favorite pasta
  • parmesan and parsley to garnish optional

Instructions

For the Butternut

  1. Preheat oven to 425
  2. Cut butternut crosswise where skinny part meets fat part
  3. Slice off ends
  4. Halve lengthwise, remove seeds
  5. Coat with olive oil and place cut side down on parchment paper lined baking sheet
  6. Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on size
  7. Let cool to be able to touch, remove peel
  8. Heat butter in a non-stick skillet over medium high heat, cook until brown bits appear and it smells nutty and fragrant, about 3 minutes
  9. Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment
  10. Beat until combined, pour in browned butter and mix until smooth and combined

For the Pasta and Sauce

  1. Melt butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat
  2. Add onions and cook 1-2 minutes, then add garlic and cook until fragrant and translucent
  3. Add wine, sage, thyme, allspice and cook until wine is reduced by half, about 2-3 minutes
  4. Add butternut mixture and chicken or vegetable stock, stir until well combined
  5. Add heavy cream, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and white pepper and let cook and reduce until it's a thick sauce, 10-12 minutes
  6. Meanwhile, bring a pasta pot of water to boil
  7. Toss in a hand full of salt
  8. Add Pasta, stir
  9. Using the extra steaming basket, add carrots and cook until almost the texture you like, I did about 8 minutes
  10. Drain the carrots into a colandar, pull pasta basket out of the pot and drain, pour pasta water over the carrots
  11. Combine pasta, carrots, and sauce, garnish with parsley and parmesan
  12. Serve immediately

 

Meatball Sliders

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Sometimes when Lisa and I go day drinking for pedicures we go sober up eat at this Italian place next to the salon. It’s called Buona Vita and they have meatball sliders!

 

Meatball Sliders

 

They come on garlic bread instead of a roll.  I get them every dang time I go.  I just HEART meatballs. I mean, seriously, what’s not to love?  It just isn’t very convenient for me to go to Buona Vita.  Lisa, however, lives right down the street.  Must be nice.

 

Meatball Sliders

 

I’ve had to resort to making my own.  Not to worry, though.  Meatballs are totally easy to make!  If you don’t want to bother making your own sauce, just use the stuff in a jar.  Rao’s is my fave ever since Cara turned me on to it.

 

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Seriously, go make you some meatball sliders.  Oh, and Lisa?  I really need to go day drinking for a pedicure soon.

 

Meatball Sliders
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Meatball Sliders

Ingredients

For the Meatballs

  • 1 medium onion diced
  • 6 garlic cloves minced
  • 1-2 teaspoons dried basil
  • 1-2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs I use the Progresso ones in the blue can
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 cup Parmesan or Parmesiano-Reggiano
  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1 lb ground mild Italian sausage

For the Sliders

  • 12 cups prepared marinara sauce
  • 1 garlic clove halved
  • Butter for spreading on roll
  • A few fresh basil leaves rolled and sliced
  • Freshly grated Parmesan or Parmesiano-Reggiano
  • 1 crusty Italian sub roll

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350
  2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and use your hands to combine, careful not to overwork the meat
  3. Roll into meatballs (I make mine huge like baseballs)
  4. Place meatballs in a large high sided baking dish
  5. Pour in about 1 - 1 1/2 inch of water (this prevents them from burning)
  6. Bake at 350 for about 1 1/2 hours, or until done (time will depend on size of meatballs)
  7. Move meatballs into a slow cooker set to warm, cover with sauce and let flavors combine for several hours
  8. Slice sub roll into 3 inch wide pieces, slice down the middle, rub bread with garlic, spread on the butter and broil or toast until browned
  9. Top each roll with 1 meatball, a little sauce and garnish with cheese and basil

Notes: This recipe makes about 10 very large meatballs and a lot of sauce.  You can make adjustments to the amount and size of the meatballs.  I usually make the meatballs the night before and bake them.  I put them in the slow cooker the next day and let them do their thing all day while I’m at work.  We usually have spaghetti and meatballs for dinner then use the leftovers for sliders or subs.

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