I made the most unbelievably easy comfort food for dinner tonight. It was another one of those crazy, busy days when it was unlikely that we’d sit down for a family dinner, so I pulled out the pressure cooker. What a savior for a busy family! With the crisp, Fall weather, butternut squash was a natural, and nothing is more “comfort” than creamy, cheesy risotto.


The trouble with most 30-minute-or-less recipes, and what most people don’t know, is the ingredient lists. If the recipe says that it takes 30 minutes to complete it, but lists 2 lbs butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed, that means that the squash has to be prepped before you begin the work, the peeling, seeding, and cubing time is not included in the time estimate. So, at 3:08 pm I pulled out the pressure cooker and the ingredients and got started. (I’m a big fan of the chop-and-throw method, that way you don’t have to worry about pre-prepped ingredients, you just chop (or dice or cube) and throw them in the pot as you go.) I poured the olive oil in the pressure cooker, diced and added the pancetta, onion, rice, butternut squash, chicken stock, and white wine (thank God for my neighbor, Ellen basically sharing her pantry with me; I was out of white wine; the payoff is that I sent her some risotto when my son went to babysit for her son), placed the cover on the pressure cooker and brought it to full pressure. I cooked it for 20 minutes, turned it off, and was in the car on my way to my son’s football game by 3:38. Thirty minutes exactly.

Now, the pot just needed to let the pressure come down while I was gone. When I returned from the game I mixed in the butter, parmiggiano-reggiano, and sage (from Ellen’s beautiful pot of herbs), and dinner was ready. If I had been really prepared, I would have had my other son make a salad while I was at the football game, then I wouldn’t have even had to do that before I sat down to eat.

But wait, there’s more, this can be one of those everready go-to recipes for you too. When I buy pancetta, I only need ¼ of the piece, so I cut the rest into individual pieces and store it in the freezer for future batches. I also keep frozen butternut squash on hand so I’m always ready.

And, even my anti-vegetable son had seconds ... it’s amazing how a little cheese and rice can change the character of a vegetable.

Butternut squash risotto with pancetta and sage

2 T olive oil
4 ozs pancetta
1 medium onion
2 c arborio rice
1 small butternut squash
6 c canned low-salt chicken broth
1 c dry white wine
2 T butter
½ c parmiggiano-reggiano cheese
6 fresh sage leaves

Place the pressure cooker on the stove over medium heat. Add olive oil. Coarsely chop and add pancetta, sauté until it’s a little crispy. Finely dice and add the onion until it’s a little soft. Add the rice and stir to coat. Chop the butternut squash into large pieces and add them (when the risotto is done, you will have some larger pieces of squash in there, if you like a smoother risotto, cut your squash into smaller pieces).

Add chicken stock and white wine, place the cover on the pressure cooker, and bring it to full pressure. Cook for 20 minutes, turn it off, and let the pressure come down. (If you’re in a hurry, you can run it under cool water to bring down the pressure more quickly.)

While the pressure comes down, grate your parmiggiano-reggiano and chop your sage leaves finely. Once pressure is down, mix in the butter, parmiggiano-reggiano, and sage. Serve immediately, with freshly ground pepper and more parmiggiano-reggiano for the top.