Butternut squash orzo risotto with a healthy twist

This fall, students within the CHEF course invited Chef Stephanie from Ripe Cuisine to teach one of their classes. She shared with them a way to create a creamy, delicious risotto with fall flavors – without all the butter and extra calories. She swapped the usual white arborio rice for whole wheat orzo pasta to create a healthier dish.

She says that seasonal butternut squash is an excellent source of the antioxidant Vitamin C and fiber and provided her recipe for us to try at home.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsps. vegetable oil, such as grapeseed or extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small butternut squash, peeled and diced into ½ inch cubes
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 shallot, minced
• ½ cup dry white wine
• 1 quart vegetable broth
• 1 ½ cup whole wheat orzo pasta
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast {optional}
• 1 tbsp fresh sage, minced
• salt and ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

• In a small saucepan, heat vegetable broth, bringing it to a boil, and reducing to a simmer until ready to use.
• Over high heat, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large deep sauté pan and sauté butternut squash, lightly seasoned with salt and pepper, until tender and edges just caramelized. Remove from pan and set aside.
• In the same pan, heat remaining tablespoon of oil, and sauté minced garlic and shallots until translucent, about 2 – 3 minutes.
• Add orzo and mix well, toasting pasta for a less than a minute. Deglaze the pan with white wine. Once most of the liquid is absorbed, add ½ cup warm vegetable broth to the pan and stir continuously until almost all the broth is absorbed.
• Continue adding about ½ cup broth increments and stirring pasta until most of the liquid is absorbed, about 7 minutes until the pasta is almost cooked through. Add back in the cooked butternut squash, and continue to cook 1-2 minutes more until the pasta is al dente. {Tip: You will still need to keeping adding the vegetable broth at this point while the and pasta finished cooking.} Season with salt, pepper, and nutritional yeast, if using.

Looking for more healthy recipes and dietitian recommended dishes? Explore our recipe box.