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Farrotto butternut squash farro risotto
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Farrotto Butternut Squash Farro Risotto

Farrotto Butternut Squash Farro Risotto loaded with perfectly roasted butternut squash cubes and finished with a crispy sage brown butter drizzle. An easy, hearty, meatless and festive recipe not to be missed.
Course Entree
Cuisine Italian American
Keyword farro risotto, farrotto
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 4 people
Calories 688kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 small onion diced
  • 1.5 cups farro
  • 2 lb butternut squash cubed (aprox 8 cups)
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 6 cups veggie broth warm & low sodium
  • 1 pinch saffron
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 5 sage leaves chopped
  • 1/3 cup dried cranberries for garnish
  • 1/3 cup Violife parmesan cheese
  • 1/3 cup flat leaf Italian parsley chopped

Brown Butter Sage Sauce (Burro Bruno e Salvia)

  • 8 Tbsp cultured plant based butter (I used Miyoko’s European)
  • 15 leaves fresh sage

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 400”F.
  • Reserve 1 cup of the cubes butternut squash and transfer the rest to a large rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
  • Drizzle the butternut with a light drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt. Toss to coat well and roast in the preheated oven for 35 minutes or so until the edges start to caramelized to a nice golden brown color.

Make the Farroto

  • Bring the vegetable broth to a simmer and mix in the saffron. Remove from heat and keep warm.
  • Preheat a large pan over medium low heat and saute the onion in a drizzle of olive oil until soft and translucent.
  • Stir in the chopped sage leaves and the farro then toss to coat all over. Toast together with the onion for a couple of minutes then add the white wine. Continue simmering until all the wine has evaporated.
  • Stir in the reserved 1 cup pf butternut squash, bay leaf and a couple of ladlefuls of the saffron infused veggie broth, just enough to cover the farro. Stir well and bring to a simmer. Cook uncovered on medium heat stirring often and adding more of the veggie broth as the farro absorb its. Don’t allow the grains to completely dry out.
  • Continue for about 35 minutes or so, until the farro has absorbed all of the broth but is still very creamy and a little bit loose.
  • Remove from heat, stir in the Violife parmesan, chopped parsley, 1/3 of the roasted butternut squash and cover with a lid. Allow to rest for 5 minutes while you make the butter sage sauce.

Brown Butter Sage Sauce

  • Add the butter to a light colored pan over medium low heat. As soon as it starts foaming up drop in the sage leaves and cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Do not stir.
  • The butter will continue foaming up and turn brown. As soon as the foam subsides remove from heat. The sage leaves should be perfectly crispy at this stage.
  • Plate the farro risotto and top with the roasted butternut squash cubes.
  • Pour the brown butter with the sage leaves over the butternut squash risotto and serve promptly sprinkled with cranberries, extra Violife parmesan and a few leaves of Parsley for garnish..

Notes

  • Substitutions - The best substitute for farro in my opinion are wheat berries. However those definitely need an overnight soak in warm water and take longer to cook but they are more nutritious with a nuttier richer flavor profile and super delicious in a risotto. You could also sub with barley and adjust cooking times until tender to your liking.
  • Toppings - if you aren't feeling the roasted butternut squash quite yet you could go for a Farrotto Pomodoro much like I did here with this Fregola pasta. Or go wild with a mix of mushrooms, caramelized onions, grilled asparagus, zucchini or marinated artichoke hearts and a drizzle of basil pesto. Stir in some dark leafy greens like baby kale and cook just until wilted, top with tons of fresh herbs for a risotto di verdure. Think of anything you can pop in the oven: roasted broccoli, sweet potato cubes, beets, carrots, a caramelized fennel bulb etc..

Nutrition

Calories: 688kcal | Carbohydrates: 104g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 4g | Sodium: 298mg | Potassium: 1108mg | Fiber: 19g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 24548IU | Vitamin C: 56mg | Calcium: 157mg | Iron: 4mg