Kitchen Garden Journal

• 1 medium onion
• 2 oz mild flavored pancetta or bacon (optional)
• 3-4 heads radicchio
• 1.5 cups Arborio or Carnaroli rice
• 2 quarts boiling homemade chicken or vegetable stock
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 4 Tbsp butter
• ½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano or Grana Padano cheese
• Salt and pepper

Heat the oil and 1-2 Tbsp of the butter in your preferred risotto pot.  Add the onion and optional pancetta and sauté until golden.  Add the rice and sauté to coat in the oil, 2-3 minutes.  Add the chopped radicchio and ½ cup of the stock and stir until evaporated.  Lower the heat to a simmer and continue to stir, adding an additional ½ cup of stock as necessary until the rice is cooked to your liking (30-40 minutes).  Salt and pepper to taste. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining butter and the cheese.  Serve immediately as a first course with more cheese at the table.

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Roast butternut squash and remove flesh from one half.  Saute the onion in half of the butter gently until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add rice and stir to coat with the butter, about 2 minutes.  Add the splash of wine and let it simmer off, then add the squash flesh and ½ cup of the chicken stock at a time until rice is cooked, stirring from time to time. (Simmer over low heat as you add the broth, as this risotto tends to get really thick and large volcanic bubbles may spew you with molten squash.)  When the rice is cooked, add the remaining stock, the other half of the butter, and about ¼ cup grated Parmesan.  Serve hot as a first course or along side a steak.  

Variation: Instead of adding the other half stick of butter at the end you can make a crispy bacon and sage butter topping.  Crisp 2 slices of diced bacon and pour off fat. Add a few torn sage leaves and some butter and stir until melted.  Garnish each plate after serving for a flavor enhancer and textural contrast.

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