Recipe of the month Butternut Squash Arancini

We are delighted to announce Andy Newman will be returning to host our Game Fair Country Kitchen with a great line up of cookery workshops and demonstrations taking place over the weekend. Award-winning chef’s and suppliers from across Norfolk and Suffolk will be showcasing their signature dishes using seasonal, local produce. If you are interested in doing a demonstration do get in touch with us. 

This month head chef Michael Chamberlain of the Victoria at Holkham shares a wonderful seasonal recipe with our readers find out more below. 

Arancini ingredients

For the risotto base:

500g risotto rice
3 shallots – finely diced
3 cloves garlic – minced
1 good sprig each of thyme and rosemary (tied together)
75 ml white wine
½ litre veg stock
Best rapeseed oil or olive oil

For the arancini:

250g butternut squash or pumpkin
125g crushed roasted hazelnuts
50g prosociano (vegan cheese) or parmesan (if you are not vegan or vegetarian)
15g chopped herbs (choice of herbs is yours but I use parsley, chervil, chives and tarragon)
Pinch of salt and pepper

100g gluten free breadcrumbs or normal (if not making the gluten free version

Method

For the risotto base:

1. Sweat the shallots, garlic, herbs and oil without colour, add the wine and reduce until nearly all gone.
2. Add the rice and coat well.
3. Add the stock stir and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and cover, set a 7 minute timer then stir again, recover and repeat this stage 3 times. The rice should still have a little bite but not overly. Remove from pan, put into tray and cool until required.

For the arancini:

1. Peel and finely dice the squash. Season and gently roast until tender, then cool.
2. Mix the risotto rice and cooled roasted squash with prosociano or parmesan, herbs, hazelnuts, salt and pepper. Mix well weigh into 1.5oz/42g balls.
3. Roll in (gluten-free) breadcrumbs and fridge until required.
4. For the puree, take the remaining squash, peel and dice it, then cook in light vegetable stock until soft. Strain out the liquid (keep this!) and blitz the squash with a hand blender, adding some of the liquid if required.
5. Deep fry for 5-6 mins until golden.
6. Serve on a bed of squash puree and sprinkle with more crushed hazlenuts and grated prosociano or parmesan.

Tuck in!