Ingredient-driven as always, I went in search of a risotto to make with the lovely organic shelled, roasted and salted pistachios I bought the other day at my favorite health food store.  What I found was a stunning food blog, canelle et vanille, written and photographed by Aran Goyoaga, a Basque chef living in South Florida, who offered her adaptation of a Melissa Clark recipe of a Butternut Squash recipe with Pistachios and Lemon.

I did not have any butternut squash, so I ad-libbed, using a finely julienned yellow squash with many of the same ingredients for the rest of the dish.  Naturally, I used some of our homemade roasted vegetable stock, and added a little diced red onion with the leek, and some chopped fresh ginger with the garlic.  I also use Vialone Nano vs. Arborio.

Minced garlic and ginger.

Saute leek and onions.

Add rice, squash and rosemary, two minutes after the garlic and ginger:

Add white wine, then the stock, a little at a time:

Top with chopped pistachios, salt and pepper:

Serve with a medium-bodied white wine, in this case, a Schloss Gobelsburg Gruner Veltliner from Austria:

I would have preferred their Riesling Tradition, but this was already open.  Life is full of compromises.  Except on the U.S. Congress.  Buon appetito.