Bakbraken Acres CSA Newsletter
Vol. 17
October 29, 2012
Happy Halloween, Dia de los
Muertos, and Full Moon!!! The end of October marks the culmination of the
summer harvest season as we begin hunker down for the holidays and stormy
winter weather. With four more weeks of the CSA remaining, your shares will
lend themselves nicely to stews, soups, and oven cooked meals. Winter squash is
coming along with more apples, persimmons in a few weeks, and greens. Enjoy
your pumpkin this week, they can be eaten raw, cooked, or used for carving!
Pumpkin and Sage Risotto
Serves 6 to 8
1 small pumpkin or about 1
lb. Diced pumpkin or winter squash
20 sage leaves
Salt and pepper
7 to 8 cups Chicken stock
1 medium onion
5 ½ tbs butter
2 cups Arborio rice
½ cup dry white wine
½ cup Parmesan cheese, plus
extra for garnish
Peel, clean, and dice
pumpkin. Put diced pumpkin into heavy bottomed pot and cook with a few leaves
of sage, salt, and 1 cup of chicken stock. Cook until tender, but not too soft,
about 5 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, chop 6 sage leaves fine and cut the onion
into small chunks.
Heat the rest of the stock
and hold at a low simmer. In and other heavy bottomed saucepan, heat 3 tbs of
the butter, add sage, and cook for about a minute; add onion and cook until translucent,
about 5 minutes. Add the rice and a pinch of salt and cook on low heat,
stirring often for about 3 minutes. Turn up the heat and pour in the white
wine. When the wine has been absorbed, add just enough hot stock to cover the
rice, stir well, and reduce the heat.
Keep the rice at a gentile
simmer and continue to add more stock, a ladle or two at a time, letting each
addition be absorbed by the rice. While the rice is cooking, sauté the
remaining sage leaves in butter until crisp. After 15 minutes, the rice will be
nearly cooked. Stirring the cooked squash, the rest of the butter, and the
cheese. Continue cooking for 3 to 5 more minutes. Adjust the seasoning. When
done, serve in warm bowls and garish with extra cheese and sautéed sage leaves.
