Squash and Chestnut Orzotto with Brown Butter Sage

Despite the snow outside (aaagghhh! Too early- it’s only November!) it is still Autumn.  And I am not about to abandon it.

Life gets so busy, and then I look around, and my favourite season seems to be slipping away from me.  I really wish I could wrap my arms around Autumn and keep it alive for a few months longer.  But since that isn’t going to happen, I can at least cook like it is still mid October and not the frigid winter scene I see outside my balcony door.

True, the cooler temps bring out all the comfort food dishes that we crave.  And I will be the first to admit, this is a big reason I love Autumn so much.  Our cooking styles change to embrace the harvest of veggies, the breathtaking colours, and of course the cool temps.  Out come the braises, the stews, the chillis, baked pasta dishes, pretty well anything creamy and cheesy.

This dish fits the bill and ticks a lot of the boxes from above.  Creamy, cheesy, harvest veggies, colours.  Yep.  This is autumn in a bowl.  Or plate.

Instead of the more time consuming rice risotto, which can be a tad time consuming (but oh so therapeutic to make in its insistence of your presence at the stove).  No, this dish is made with orzo pasta (which of course does look like rice).  So we are talking a fraction of the time needed to get this from pot to your mouth.  

I like to start orzotto the same way that I start risotto, with onions sautéed in a bit of olive oil.  Once barely translucent, I add the butter.  Let the butter start to turn golden, nutty and aromatic, and you know it is time to add the orzo pasta.  Stir to coat it well.  Then another nod to risotto with some white wine.  After that, stock is added, brought to a boil, and then a lid is plopped on top and the heat reduced to a simmer.  The fun part is that we are not super worried about cooking all the liquid out before it is done.  Once the pasta is cooked through, there will still be a bit of broth, but this is there to soak up the cheese.  The entire dish will continue to thicken, even when resting off of the heat.  But it will not turn to overcooked pasta, I promise.

Here is the autumnal portion of the dish.  Butternut or acorn squash is roasted off in the oven while the orzotto is cooking.  I like to toss my cubed squash with olive oil, salt and pepper, and paprika.  The paprika adds some depth and a touch of kick.  The dish needs it.  They will become perfectly tender with crisped edges in about 20 minutes or so.

The other addition is chopped roasted chestnuts.  These days, thanks to vacuum sealing, we can have roasted chestnuts already peeled at our fingertips.  So I take a package, chop the chestnuts into large pieces (each chestnut gets chopped into about 4 to 6 pieces) and add them to the orzotto towards the end, along with the roasted cubed squash.  And if you don’t like or have access to chestnuts, feel free to swap them out for walnuts.

While the dish is resting, with the cover on, the final part of the dish can be made.  A simple Brown Butter Sage Sauce.  

How to make a Brown Butter Sage Sauce:  It is as simple as letting butter cook over medium heat in a small saucepan or skillet.  Sage leaves are added towards the beginning. It will go through all the stages of foamy until it starts to get brown, nutty and aromatic.  In French it is called Beurre Noissette, which translates as Hazelnut Butter- because of the perfect nutty aroma and hue the butter takes on.  Once the butter is at this stage it can be taken off the heat.  Done, the sage leaves are ready in no time at all.  You can finish this with salt and pepper and a touch of lemon and serve it over anything your little heart desires.

The entire sauce, along with a final dusting of parmesan cheese gets poured over the rizotto.  Stir the butter in, and save some leaves for presentation.

To keep this dish entirely vegetarian, instead of using chicken stock to cook the orzo, feel free to swap out vegetable broth.  Or here is a great reason to pull out my Faux Chicken Bouillon Powder.  This would make a great Meatless Monday meal, but why not consider it a first course or a side dish to a roast dinner you may be preparing!?

Enjoy this dish as you relish the last vestiges of Autumn.  Because like all good things, it must come to an end.  For a while.

Love Jen

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Squash and Chestnut Orzotto with Brown Butter Sage

Course Main Course

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 3 cups butternut squash or acorn squash cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• kosher salt
• cracked black pepper
• 1/2 tsp smoked sweet paprika
• 2 cups lower-salt chicken broth can substitute with vegetable stock or Faux Chicken Bouillon Powder
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion chopped
• 2 Tbs. unsalted butter
• 1 cup orzo
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 1 100 gram (4 oz) package of peeled roasted chestnuts, coarsely chopped (can be replaced with walnuts if desired)
• 2 Tbs. freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano , plus more for finishing

Brown Butter Sage

• 6 tbsp butter cubed into 1/2 inch pieces
• 16 fresh sage leaves patted dry

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400F (200C)
2. In a bowl, toss the squash cubes along with the olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp paprika and 1/4 tsp black pepper.
3. Spread these all out onto a baking sheet. Bake until just tender and crisped a bit, about 20-25 minutes, depending on your oven. When ready, take out of the oven and set aside. If the orzo still has a way to go to be cooked, you can return the squash to the oven, as long as the heat is off.
4. While the squash is roasting, start the Orzotto
5. In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken broth to a simmer over medium-high heat. Leave this to warm on the back burner while you prepare the orzotto base in a different pot.
6. In a 3 quart heavy-duty saucepan, warm the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the onions and cook till just starting to turn translucent, about 5 minutes or so.
7. Add the butter and stir through the onions Cook over medium heat, stirring the pan occasionally, until the butter turns golden brown and smells nutty, about 2 minutes.
8. Add the orzo and stir with a wooden spoon to coat well. Cook until the orzo just begins to turn a light golden color, about 2 minutes.
9. Pour in the wine and stir until absorbed, about 1 minute.
10. Add the simmering broth mixture, stir, cover, and reduce the heat to low. Cook until the orzo is just tender, about 12 minutes; the mixture may still be wet but will set up.
11. At this point the squash should be ready to add in. Add the squash and the chopped chestnuts and give them all a gentle stir to combine.
12. Season to taste with salt and a generous amount of pepper, and mix in the parmesan cheese. Cover and let rest off the heat for 5 minutes.

Brown Butter Sage

1. While the orzotto is resting you can make the brown butter sage.
2. In a small sauté or sauce pan, heat the butter over medium low heat.
3. As soon as it starts to foam up, add the sage leaves and cook together for about 3-5 minutes.
4. The butter will foam and turn brown. Don't stir or touch at this point.
5. When the foam subsides, remove the pan from the heat. The sage should be crispy.
6. Set the sage aside.
7. If serving the orzotto from the pot, just drizzle the butter over everything. Gently stir in.
8. If serving it in a presentation bowl of some sort, transfer to the bowl and then drizzle with the butter. Gently stir in.
9. Place the sage leaves all over the orzotto. Or save some for each individual serving.

10. You can finish with a final amount of parmesan cheese and a sprinkling of salt and pepper

Recipe Notes

For my Faux Chicken Bouillon Powder, click here

Riff on a Basic Orzotto recipe found here

I say it serves four.  It will serve more if it only part of a large meal, like Turkey dinner.

You can prepare the dish ahead of time, just don't cook the orzo till completely tender.  But don't add the brown butter sage till just before serving. Store the orzotto in a sealed container in the fridge.  The day you want to serve it, re-warm it in a pan, adding a bit of stock if necessary to thin it out, since the pasta and cheese will have absorbed the stock and wine. Once warmed through on medium-low heat, keep it on the back burner.  Brown the butter and sage and spoon it over and serve.