In need of a night out, the husband and I went exploring.  A new neighborhood sprung out of nowhere since we last lived in Denver, called ‘River North’ or RiNo for short.  So clever.  Blocks of industrial warehouses are becoming spaces for creative folk.  It was first Friday and the galleries were open.

We started early and got to Fuel Café in time to claim the last table without a reservation.  Described as “garage-chic,” it’s located in the recently repurposed old Yellow Cab Taxi Headquarters building.  We had butternut squash two ways.  First, in the Winter Vegetable Salad in which it was shaved and raw.  It smells like pumpkin.  And here’s where I was going to say “but it doesn’t taste like pumpkin,” except that I’ve never actually tasted raw pumpkin.  So maybe they do taste the same.  Who knows.

Second, we had it in the Gnocchi with Candied Butternut Squash.  The waitress said that they’ve mastered pan-fried gnocchi and it appears on the menu frequently combined with seasonal ingredients.  This version contained goat cheese and fried sage, in addition to the squash.  All talking ceased when the gnocchi arrived.

Needless to say, I was inspired.  I had butternut squash at home, part of my Oregon veggie stash I carted to Denver with me.  I had sage.  And I had some Arborio rice.  How about a similar dish, but risotto instead of gnocchi?  Yes.

“Is that the stuff we had raw the other night,” my husband said walking by on his way to restart our router.  Our internet connection was down.  This means I didn’t have access to the recipe I had in mind.  I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve owned Alice Waters’ The Art of Simple Food for a year, and haven’t cracked it open.  I apologized to it, and checked for a risotto recipe.  It had more than that.  It had a basic risotto recipe that could be used to add whatever ingredients you like, with instructions on what type of ingredient to add when.  Brilliant!  This is what I needed.

Peeling the squash proved challenging.  I wish I’d done some research ahead of time.  At one point I thought, that since my butternuts were small, maybe the skin was thin enough to eat and I didn’t have to peel the whole thing.  One bite answered that question.  Peeling is necessary. 

It looks like cantaloupe once you’ve cut it up but not as juicy.

On his way back from restarting the router, the husband’s next comment was “are you sure that’s going to be ready in an hour?”  At that point the rice had turned purple; I didn’t have white wine to add, so I added red.  (Alice said it was ok!) I tried to shield it from his view.

Thankfully, as I added chicken broth, the red color receded.  With all the excitement I forgot to add the squash when I started cooking the onions, like Alice told me to.  They would have cooked another 10 minutes or so, and been more tender in the final dish.  I also added sauteed shiitake mushrooms and sage.

I was expecting the squash to be sweeter, until I remembered that the gnocchi dish had candied squash.  No matter.  I’m calling my first improvised risotto a success.  And it was ready in less than an hour, thank you very much.

Interested in the RiNo art scene?  Click here.

Want more veggies?  Check out last week’s veggie story: The Prettiest Radish You’ve Ever Seen. The Watermelon Radish.  New veggie stories every Thursday.

Did you see last week’s market photos?  Click here for Monday Dose of Market: Toothache Plant and Tomato Reprieve.  New photos every Monday.

New to The Weekly Veggie? Read how it all began with My Childhood Vegetable Nemesis