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