I don’t remember where I got this recipe:
Smoky Butternut & Bacon Risotto with Fresh Ginger
3 thick slices applewood smoked bacon, julienned
1 large sweet onion, diced
½ small butternut squash, peeled, halved, seeded, cut into ½ inch cubes
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp minced ginger
5 cups chicken broth or stock
½ cup dry white wine or broth
1 tsp salt
½ tsp fresh ground pepper
2 cups Arborio rice
2 cups shredded roast duck, chicken or turkey (optional)
½ cup finely grated cheese, such as manchego, aged gouda, parmesan
2 tbsp chopped fresh chives or parsley
Brown the bacon and remove from pan. Add the onion and squash to the bacon fat. Cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic and ginger; cook 1 minute.
Heat the broth, wine, salt and pepper in a saucepan to a simmer. Stir rice into squash mixture; cook, stirring, over medium heat to coat the rice with fat, 1 minute. Stir in 2 cups of the broth mixture. Keep at a simmer. Cook and stir until most liquid has been absorbed. Add another ½ cup of broth, and continue this process until rice is tender, about 12-15 minutes.
Stir in the meat, if desired, the cheese and chives. Sprinkle servings with bacon and more cheese.
This one is from Gourmet Magazine and will make you swoon:
Butternut Squash Soup with Star Anise and Ginger Shrimp
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tablespoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger
2/3 cup chopped shallot
1-3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3 whole star anise
1 tablespoon sweet curry powder
2-3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1-3/4 lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into ½ inch pieces (5 cups)
4 cups chicken stock or broth
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Garnish: fresh cilantro
Toss shrimp with ginger in a bowl and marinate, chilled, no longer than 30 minutes. Meanwhile, cook shallot, garlic, anise and curry powder in butter in a heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring, until shallot is softened, about 5 minutes.
Add squash and stock and simmer, uncovered, until squash is very tender, about 20 minutes. Remove star anise. Puree soup in 2 batches in a blender until very smooth, about one minute per batch, then transfer to cleaned pan and keep warm, covered.
Sprinkle marinated shrimp with salt. Heat oil in a large skillet over moderately high heat, then sauté shrimp in batches, stirring, until just cooked through, about 3 minutes per batch, and remove to paper towels. Bring soup to a simmer and season with salt and pepper. Place in shallow soup bowls, mounding three shrimp in the center and garnishing with cilantro.
My wife and I came up with this variation on a dish:
Autumn Pork & Squash Stew
12 oz or so of marbled pork steak, trimmed of fat, cut into chunks
1/2 cup flour
2 heaping TBSP of sweet Spanish smoked paprika
salt
3 strips of bacon
olive oil
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 6oz can tomato paste
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes with juices
3-4 cups of stock or broth (chicken, pork, veggie, whatever)
1 small squash, peeled and cut into chunks
fresh sage leaves
butter
Saute the bacon in a bit of olive oil until nicely browned. Remove from the pan and cut into smaller pieces. Mix the flour, paprika and salt in a gallon baggie, then dredge the pork in the mixture. Remove from bag, shaking excess flour off. Return the bacon fat to the burner and heat to medium-high. Add the pork in batches and brown quickly. Remove to a bowl. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and add the onion to the fat, adding a bit of olive oil if necessary. When the onion turns translucent, add the garlic and saute for about a minute, stirring.
Add the tomato paste and stir and cook until all the fat is absorbed. Add the can of tomatoes, the stock and the meats. Stir well to combine with the paste. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and cook for about three hours, or until the pork is fork-tender. Add the cut up squash.
While the squash is cooking, heat some butter in a saute pan to medium. Add fresh sage leaves and saute until crisp. Remove from pan. Add the sage butter to the large pan/pot. Ladle the stew into bowls and garnish with the sage. And sour cream, if you wish.