I did a bit of creating. I had bit of butternut squash left over from dinner on Sunday so while I baked Brownies for a Birthday Brownie stack (need to share that recipe too – they were banana brownies which just don’t quite sound so indulgent and bad for you, almost virtuous!!) I roasted the squash. I had bought some ready chopped curly kale for another recipe and then discovered that these two ingredients make a risotto combination to die for.

I sauteed 2 celery stalks and 1 leek.  When these were softened a little I then added 2 crushed garlic cloves and 100g (approx) of curly kale and the roasted butternut squash (about half the long bit of the squash chopped).  Then I added the uncooked risotto rice, enough for 2 people –  I didn’t weigh it so I’d say approx 125g but it is really yummy warmed up the next day so if you are heavy handed then don’t worry.  I know I am supposed to add hot stock ladle by ladle stirring all the time but I opted for a more paella approach to risotto making.  I poured in sufficient stock in one go, probably 700mls (cooking in my kitchen is not precise science!!) and brought it to the boil.  I then turn down the heat and put a lid on my saute pan, allowing it to simmer.  I do give an occasional stir (traditional paella requires no stirring as you are supposed to get a bit of a crust on the bottom of the pan – so I have read anyway, the Spanish among you can correct me).  When thel the rice was cooked, I then added grated mature cheddar cheese (you could add blue cheese, goat’s cheese or Parmesan – whatever you have or think would work).  This gave a bit of a gooey texture which I love in risotto – it was just a small lump approx 75g perhaps, the stronger the flavour the cheese, the less you need to add.

I wish I had taken a photo but I only thought that after we had eaten it and agreed that this was a recipe to be written down and made again.  The photo would have been a couple of bowls scraped clean!  The dark green of the kale and the orange of the squash made it a colourful risotto – as pleasant to the eye as it was in the mouth!!