Kate Says . . . delicious

I bought Marcella Hazan's Marcella Says . . . this past summer, but had not tried any of the recipes yet. When I moved back home in August, I had to box up most of my cookbooks, and they've been in giant containers in the attic of the barn ever since.

After Sunday night's lamb, my mother asked if I might make dinner again this week, and I mentioned risotto.

"Is there such a thing as squash risotto?" Mom asked.

I had to have a recipe somewhere, and I ran out across the driveway to the barn in the rain to find one. I really love trying new recipes.

I had a little trouble finding a recipe at first; it wasn't until the fifth cookbook that I looked at - Marcella Says . . . - that I finally found what I was looking for. Then I realized why I'd never used this cookbook.

I buy most of my cookbooks used and sight-unseen off of Amazon - if the reviews are good, and the cookbook looks interesting and is under three dollars, I'll probably buy it eventually. So I bought this cookbook back in June without having looked through it. When I received it in the mail, I read through it quickly. The recipes are not traditionally Italian, but used a variety of Italian cooking techniques and styles with new, different ingredients. Hazan experiments with traditional Italian ingredients in non-traditional recipes as well. The layout is beautiful, with a short introduction/biography of Hazan, then "At Master Class" - seventy-some odd pages of cooking-technique advice that is very helpful - and then sections on appetizers and tidbits, soups, rice, pasta sauces, homemade pasta and gnocchi, fish, chicken, veal, beef, lamb, pork, veggies, salads, and two dessert chapters. Each recipe has helpful hints; all highlighted, but in the text of the recipe where they will be most helpful. It is an amazingly easy-to-use cookbook, and the advice is great - each recipe would be very easy to adapt or experiment with. However, many of the ingredients are either prohibitively expensive for me or unavailable.

Hazan's recipe, Risotto di Zucca, Porri, e Vongole [Risotto with Butternut Squash, Leeks, and Clams] calls for live littleneck clams, which, though available here, aren't worth the price, and are 95% dead anyway after the trip from the ocean to the fishmonger's. Luckily, I was able to find canned baby clams, and they worked well. I made a few other time-saving changes as well.

The risotto was delicious, but to enjoy it as I made it, I feel that a person would really have to like the taste of clams. The pungent, salty aroma was very noticeable, and the sweet, meaty taste of the clams was there in every bite. The slightly sweet and creamy squash, and the crispness of the leeks - also sweet, but in an entirely different way, provided nice contrast to the clams. The pecorino added a nice dimension as well. The risotto itself turned out perfectly creamy and delicious.

Here is the recipe as I made it:

Risotto di Zucca, Porri, e Vongole
Risotto with Butternut Squash, Leeks, and Clams

About 2 cups butternut squash - peeled and diced into 1/2-in. pieces (1/2 lb.)
About 2 quarts water
1 14 oz. can clams (I used the Roland brand baby clams)
1 large leek, white and light green parts only, scrubbed, cut in half the long way, and sliced thinly
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons scallions, the white part only, cut into very thin rounds
sea salt
1/2 tablespoon dried marjoram
1 cup Arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine (Villa Maria Chardonnay, 2003)
12 whole green peppercorns
1/2 cup grated Pecorino Toscano cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Lay the squash in a baking dish big enough that it doesn't overlap. Pour in 1/2 cup water, and put it in the preheated oven. Cook for 20 minutes. Take it out of the oven and let the dish cool on the countertop before draining. Set aside.

Set the water, unsalted, on a burner next to the one that you will use for the risotto. Bring the water to a rolling boil, and then turn down the heat, so that the water continues to simmer, but doesn't reach a boil.

In a heavy 4 quart saucepan, heat the olive oil until it runs around the pan, and then turn the heat to medium high. Cook, stirring from time to time, until the leek and scallion become a pale gold color. Add half of the squash and some salt, and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring once or twice. Add the marjoram, and stir to mix all of the ingredients.

Add the rice, stirring to coat.

Add half of the wine while steadily stirring the rice. When the wine has cooked off, add the other half, still stirring. When this has cooked off, pour the clam juices from the can into the risotto. Continue to stir until all of the juices have cooked off, then add a ladle of water from the saucepan on the side. Stir constantly, adding more water each time the rice begins to dry out.

When about 1/2 of the water in the saucepan is gone, and the rice is chalky, but still hard to the bite, stir in the remaining squash, and then add more water as necessary. When nearing the end, add the water as it disappears, but before the rice beings to stick to the bottom of the pan. This will give a creamier consistency.

When the rice is done, add the clams, stirring them quickly into the risotto. Add the peppercorns, and the pecorino. Remove the pan from the heat and stir vigorously. Taste and correct for seasoning. Serve immediately.

We served this with a 2003 Villa Maria Estate Private Bin Chardonnay. ( I love the screw off cap. Love it.) The wine matched the risotto well, I thought, but next time I might go for something drier.

I really enjoyed this dish - I look forward to making it with fresh clams, if I can find some good ones. Next time I think tha tI'll double the squash as well.

In closing, I can't tell you how fun this book is to cook from - it was a really enjoyable experience. I don't know if it is the instructional style or what, but I'm glad that I bought way too much squash for this dish - I'm looking forward to making the Rapini and Butternut Squash Soup later this week.