Roasted Acorn Squash Risotto

OK, I'll admit, it seems a little late in the season to be fixing acorn squash, but it came in my veggie box at the beginning of the month and I need to use it. I'm not a fan of acorn squash, but I decided it was time to try it again, so I ordered it.  I also have a butternut squash I roasted today to make a bisque, but that will be for a later post.  So, I went in search of a great recipe for the acorn squash and I found Roasted Acorn Squash Risotto on VegWeb.com.  Even a non-acorn squash fan can appreciate this risotto recipe.  It is excellent!

First, I roasted the acorn squash along with my butternut squash.  I peeled it after it had roasted and cut it up, or rather made it into portions as it was rather soft.  

I am not sure what vegetarian sausage links would be, especially to have 8 of them, so I used two Tofurky Italian Sausage made with sun dried tomato and basil.  I diced them into 1/2" slices and then cut each slice into 4 pieces.  Next, I sauteed the sausage until it was brown.

I didn't have any sherry, so I used a Fine Tawny Victoria that I had, which is a sweet Port wine.  (VERY tasty, too, I might add!!!)  I figured it was close to sherry.  I don't drink sherry, so I don't really know.

I microwaved the broth (I used water and no salt added veggie bouillon cubes) so it was very hot.  I ended up using 4½ cups of hot broth water to make the risotto so it would be creamy, with just a hint of firmness to the rice.  After standing at the stove stirring for an eternity, my risotto was done.  I added a bit of red cayenne pepper and some more curry powder and a generous sprinkling of fresh ground black pepper.  This risotto ROCKS!!!  There are a few reviews on VegWeb that state the risotto needs more salt.  I didn't add salt when I was cooking this and I didn't add salt to my dish.  It was plenty salty for me, but I stopped cooking with a lot of salt years ago.

This is the first time I've made risotto and I consider it to be a success!  I will definitely be making this dish again.  While it's a pain to have to stand at the stove and stir the rice constantly when adding the water a cup at a time, it's definitely worth it.  This is an excellent dish!