Butternut and Mascarpone Risotto with Sage and Crumbled Amaretto Biscuits

Ingredients

• 75 ml olive oil
• 75ml unsalted butter
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 400gms risotto rice
• 1 to 1.5 litres boiling chicken stock or vegetable stock
• 500gms butternut cut into 3cm cubes and roasted
• 150gms Tatua mascarpone
• freshly ground pepper and salt
• ½ bunch sage fried till crisp in a little olive oil
• 6 amaretto biscuits, crumbled

Method

Heat the olive oil in a heavy saucepan over a medium heat, add onion and garlic, cook for five to 8 minutes.

Add rice and stir until rice is coated with oil. Reduce the heat, add 250mls, 1 cup of the boiling stock and stir briefly.

Allow rice to cook and the stock to be completely absorbed by the rice before adding another 250mls of stock.

Stir again; continue adding the stock and cooking until rice is almost cooked about 15 to 20 minutes. Stir frequently.

Fold in the mascarpone and season with salt and pepper.

Add two thirds of the butternut to the risotto and fold through gently.

To Serve:

Spoon the risotto into 6 bowls scatter over the reserved butternut and the fried sage leaves, crumble an amaretto biscuit over each bowl and serve with a wedge of lemon.

Suggested Wines to Go With Today's Recipe

Pinot Noir/Cabernet or Cabernet blend

3 Paddles Martinborough 2004

Saint Clair Omaka Reserve 2004

Brookfields Ohiti Estate 2005

Babich The Patriach 2002

Corbans Private Bin 2004