; Supermarket Serenade: Baked Brown Rice Risotto

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Baked Brown Rice Risotto

When Barefoot Bloggers made Butternut Squash Risotto a few weeks ago I told Aggie from Aggie's Kitchen that I had remembered seeing a baked risotto in a cookbook years ago-well I found it only it wasn't brown rice as I had remembered. Wanting to use brown rice I decided to adapt the recipe for brown rice. I had an acorn squash laying around and thought I would roast it and add it in as well.

The original recipe, Risotto alla Milanese is from The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook. Regular long grain rice is called for in the recipe and the original cooking time called for 30 minutes of baking time. Changing the recipe to brown rice significantly adds to the cooking time, but I think the value of using brown rice over white rice makes the extra time worth it.
The Good Housekeeping cookbook offered this nice chart outlining the differences in types of rice: (I've edited it a bit for space)

Regular white rice: Milled to remove outer coating of bran and sometimes polished; available as long, medium or short grain. Long grain rice is best in curries, stews, salads and main dishes. Medium and short grains are preferred for puddings and rice rings. One cup uncooked regular rice yields about 3 cups cooked.

Brown Rice: Unmilled so grains retain most of their food value. Brown absorbs more liquid and takes longer to cook than white rice. Nutty in flavor. One cup uncooked brown rice yields about 4 cups cooked.
Wild Rice: Not a true rice but served as an accompaniment like rice. Cook as label directs. One cup uncooked wild rice yields about 3 cups cooked.

Baked Brown Rice Risotto with Roasted Acorn Squash (adapted from Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook)

Squash:
1 acorn squash, peeled and diced
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Risotto:
4 tablespoons butter
1 shallot minced
1 1/4 cup long grain brown rice
32 ounces chicken broth, warmed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Spread the squash in an even layer on a baking sheet. Drizzle the squash with the oil and sprinkle with the salt and pepper; toss to coat.

Place the butter in a 3-quart oven safe baking dish. Melt the butter in the oven. Stir in the shallot and return to the oven for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the rice and cook for an additional 4 minutes in the oven. Stir in the broth, salt, saffron and pepper. Cover the dish and return to the oven. Bake for 1 hour. Remove the cover and continue baking until most of the broth is absorbed, about 30 minutes.

During the last 30 minutes of cooking place the squash in the oven to roast. To serve, stir the roasted squash and the Parmesan cheese into the rice. Serve immediately.

Yield: 6 servings

12 comments:

Mary Bergfeld said...

I really like this recipe and the directions for oven roasting the rice. Great tip, thanks!

Anonymous said...

Thanks! This looks like a great risotto.

The Blonde Duck said...

We really need to eat more brown rice....I should whip this up!

Emily said...

I love this! I am so glad that you tried brown rice! I love to use it whenever possible but am always nervous about how it will turn out . . . loves d-lish!

Aggie said...

Veronica - thanks so much for posting this! I love the idea of it baking in the oven...plus I have this cute little acorn squash here that I have no idea what to do with! This looks delicious!

Karen said...

I like what you did with this recipe... brown rice has so much more of a nuttier flavor. This looks delish!

Barbara Bakes said...

Sounds like a great, flavorful side dish.

That Girl said...

baked risotto sounds so much easier than the traditional method.

Allie said...

I've never been a brown rice fan, but I get bags of it from the rice festival and end up giving it all away. Might need to try this recipe and give brown rice a chance again.

grace said...

that looks totally hearty and filling--perfect for a cool fall day, which is pretty much every fall day here in ny. :)

Anonymous said...

Yummy! I'll definitely have to try that! I LOVE brown rice... it's so nutty (ah, hehm... kinda like me!)!

~Cat

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this recipe, LOVED it! Made it tonight, used a brown rice blend that had, brown rice, wild rice and red short grain rice from Bob's Red Mill. Added mushrooms, garlic powder and toasted pecans...did I say yummy! Thanks again! Might even add a little spinach next time. Healthy and hardy!