Butternut Squash Risotto: Family Recipes with Bright Horizons

You have no idea how pleased I am that Alyssa is finally eating what I eat (most of the time) – it saves so much time and is actually forcing me to eat healthier too. Isn’t it funny how a lot of the time we don’t care what we put into our own bodies, but every crumb that passes the lips  of our children is monumentally important?! Or is that just crazy old me?! Anyway, it has been great fun watching her trying new flavours and textures. I am also trying to encourage her to feed herself too, which involves a body bib, a spoon in one of her hands, food shoveled in with her free hand and a blessing of thanks that my mother has tiled flooring meaning it’s easy to clean up after. However, the important thing is that she is trying, learning and growing… and loves her food. She loves everything from Thai Curry to a good old Roast Dinner and has a current obsession with a good old cheese sandwich and some of my lentil soup. One of our recent trials was with Paella and Risotto… I was cautious about trying something with rice again as she has never been a child who likes bitty food. She either likes whole pieces she can pick up and destroy or smoothish mush. However, I found she really like a mushroom risotto I made where I portioned off a bit for her and let it soften a little bit more than my own. Result!! So, when Bright Horizons sent me a copy of their new Family Recipe Book and asked if I’d try out one of their recipes, we had to go with the Butternut Squash Risotto…

Now, I think Butternut  squash is a great vegetable to give kids because it is slightly sweet (in my opinion) and whilst it doesn’t have an overpowering flavour it does have an identifiable taste meaning that the food will not be bland! First thing we had to do was peel, deseed and dice the butternut squash…

One thing I really liked about the Bright Horizons Recipe was that it actually got you to prep all the ingredients at the beginning so you were ready for each of the following steps. So many recipes have you continuously stirring and then suddenly ask you to finely dice 100 onions to microscopic pieces whilst also basting a cauliflower! So as well as prepping the butternut squash, I also needed to chop the onion, mince the garlic, chop the parsley and drain and weigh out some delicious haricot beans…

Next step was to cover the Butternut Squash in vegetable oil (I try to use sparingly as I don’t want bubba’s food to be too oily and fatty) in a bowl and then spread on a baking tray and roast until soft which normally takes about 30 mins…

Whilst that is roasting, I am able to saute (or fry to  us non-trained cooks) the onion and garlic until soft in a huge saucepan and then toss in the rice and mix until it is coated. Then I have to add a third of water required and bring to the boil and then let it gently simmer…

Next is adding more water and the beans and then once the liquid as been absorbed, just keep adding small amounts of water until it is all absorbed and the rice is cooked! Then finally its time to stir in the roasted butternut squash, spinach and parsley and stir until the spinach has wilted. Then it’s time to serve with a little more parsley on top (and is this house we love a dash of Parmesan on top too!!!)

Alyssa wolfed this down and luckily clever mummy made extra so I portioned some off into pots and popped in the freezer for another day when mummy wants to eat something unhealthy that bubba really shouldn’t! Thanks so much to Bright Horizons for sending us this wonderful recipe book! If you’d like the full list of ingredients and method for the Butternut Squash Risotto as well as other amazing and easy family recipes, just visit the Bright Horizons Website. Their recipes also appear in nurseries all over the country – the closest nursery to me that uses these recipes is Waterside Nursery in Waterside! Definitely on my list to check out when I go nursery looking!

Does your little one like risotto too?

This was a collaborative post – all opinions are my own