Homemade roasted butternut squash and sweet potato risotto

Apologies...again

It doesn't seem too long ago since I last had to write and apology post, well here we are again. Unfortunately there an old saying which reflects the reason behind my poor time keeping on the update of this blog, I'm not sure if its classed as a saying or how its classified but, ' there aren't enough hours in the day'. So going forward I can't promise that the blog will be updated every week, as such there will be one new blog a month and any others will be a bonus for you :)

My own recipe and pics

Please forgive the poor photography but these are the final product (the roasted squash and potatoes could have done with a 'shuffle' to show the glaze off). This should feed about 4 and is the easiest risotto.

Ingredients:

1 Onion

1 tablespoon Rapseed oil

250g Arborio rice

Chorizo (as much as you like..or don't)

1 large glass of white wine (any will do doesn't need to be expensive, but definitely not bubbly)

700ml vegetable stock

Peppers (mixed)

1 butternut squash

3 sweet potatoes

Honey

Parmesan to taste

Method:

Peel and chop into cubes the sweet potato and butternut squash, rinse and scatter on the Castey Vulcano flat tray. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle honey over the whole area. If you like before the honey you could add a small amount of rapeseed oil to give extra colour. Place tray in the oven and turn once or twice in the duration of cooking (about 35-45 minutes). Once they soften and gain the colour you're after remove from the oven.

Pre-heat oven to 180

Dice the onion and fry until translucent (for about 4/5 mins), then add the chorizo (to your own taste). Stir in the wine and leave to simmer for 5 minutes on a low heat..

Add the rice and ensure that its all coated with the oil and the oil from the chorizo and leave for a further 2 minutes.

Next add the vegetable stock but leave around 150ml to add later if the risotto seems to be drying out. Stir in the peppers and season.

Now if you're doing this in one of our fantastic Crafond Saute pans, you can simply remove the handle, put on the lid and put it in the oven, but whatever your cooking in transfer from the hob to the oven (obviously the dish/pan must be oven safe). 

Leave in the oven for 30 minutes but keep an eye on it to ensure it doesn't dry out, if it seems a little dry add the remaining stock and stir. Once the majority of the stock has been absorbed and the rice etc. are cooked, remove from the oven.

To serve heap around a quarter of the risotto on a plate alongside the roasted goodies and serve with a small shaving of the cheese on the top, et voila. You have a beautiful dish for tea! Well, you should have if I've given the right instructions. Please accept my apologies should I have missed anything out.

Bank holiday monday offers

If you like to grab yourself a bargin keep your eyes out for our fantastic deals coming your way on the 22nd May, Huge reductions on our Diamond line and Diamond Induction line as well as a huge £50 off of one of our best selling frying pan sets from the Castey Vulcano range. Be quick though, the offers are superb but are limited and it will be a case of 'first come first served'. 

http://www.perfectpans.com/castey-vulcano-3-piece-frying-pan-set-807-p.asp 

The next post

So thats 'all for now folks' hopefully the next update will be in a few weeks but as to what it may be, your guess is as good as mine!

Chorizo Queso Fundido-- Super cheesy and great to share!

It's the weekend and the weather is hot! What better time to gather your family and friends with some lovely summer drinks and sit in the garden with an array or appetisers to share and just relax.

Ingredients

500g Chorizo
1 whole Medium Onion, Finely Diced
2 whole small Bell Peppers (any Colour Combination), Seeded And Finely Diced
500g Grated Mozzarella or other favourite melting cheese
Sprinkle Of Chili Powder
3 whole Roma Tomatoes, Diced
1/4 cup Cilantro, Chopped
Tortilla Chips For Serving
Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 180 Degrees

Method

In a Crafond Frying Pan (we recommend a 24 cm for this recipe,) cook the chorizo until brown. Remove from pan and drain on a paper towel. Pour off any excess fat. Add onions and peppers to the pan and cook over medium heat until the veggies are soft and golden brown, about 7-8 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
To build the dish, place 1/3 of the cheese in a Crafond frying pan or you even a Crafond Shallow Casserole (pre-seasoned with rapeseed oil) Add half the chorizo. Add another third of the cheese, then as much of the veggie mixture as you'd like (you may have a little left over.) Add almost all of the remaining cheese, the rest of the chorizo, then whatever cheese you have left. Sprinkle the top very lightly with chili powder.

NOTE: Depending on the size of your pan, you may have some ingredients left over. Just build so that the ingredients roughly reach the top of the skillet; they'll shrink quite a bit once the cheese melts!
Place into the oven and start watching it about 4 to 5 minutes in. You want to bake it until the cheese is totally melted, hot, and slightly bubbling...but before the cheese starts to firm up/harden. (In other words, you still want the cheese to be extra gooey.)

Remove from the oven, top with the diced tomatoes, sprinkle on the tomatoes, and serve immediately with tortilla chips!

NOTE: Be sure to have everything ready so you can serve the Queso Fundido pretty much right out of the oven. It's best when piping hot!