Butternut risotto with leeks and Fireworks garlic butter

by Jessica Jacobson

This recipe uses the Instant Pot and is adapted from Feasting at Home Blog.

Set the Instant Pot to the saute setting.  The recipe starts with prepping the leeks. Cut and rinse them well. If they are very muddy, soak in a big bowl of water and separate the rings.

Heat the Fireworks garlic butter and add the leeks, stirring until they soften.

This Butternut Risotto is perfect for cozy fall nights when time is limited. When using an instant pot, it only requires only 15 minutes of hands-on time before letting the Instant Pot take over and in the end, you’ll have a comforting nourishing meal on the table with very little fuss. You can also make this on the stovetop in about 40 minutes.

Now if you don’t have an instant pot, there is a stovetop version in the video and also in the recipe notes, and it is yummy. For the stovetop version, we roast the butternut.

I’ll be honest, I was a little surprised that this recipe turned out as good as it did. I’m not a huge fan of mushy veggies, so the idea of putting cubes of raw butternut in the Instant Pot was a little off-putting.  I much prefer them roasted and caramelized. But I just wanted to experiment and an interesting thing happened.

Well besides the obvious, yes, the butternut did get a little mushy. But what I didn’t expect was how creamy the butternut turned out, giving the risotto a lovely richness without adding cheese or butter, almost turning into a butternut sauce.

Instructions: 

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil (or butter)
  • 2 cups sliced leeks (one extra large leek)
  • 4 garlic cloves, rough chopped
  • 8 sage leaves, chopped
  • 1 cup Arborio rice 
  • 2 heaping cups of butternut squash, cubed 
  • 1 Fireworks Garlic Butter Burts
  • 2 cups veggie stock or chicken stock, or broth 
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8  teaspoon white pepper (or sub-black pepper to taste)
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 
  • 2–3 handfuls of baby spinach or chopped kale

STEP ONE:

The recipe starts with prepping the leeks. Cut and rinse them well. If they are very muddy, soak in a big bowl of water and separate the rings.

Save the green leek tops for Leek Oil – which is optional, but will change your life! I’m not joking here friends. It’s amazing.

STEP TWO:

Set the Instant Pot to the saute setting.  Heat the oil and add the leeks, stirring until they soften.

STEP THREE:

Add the garlic, sage and the Arborio Rice, sauteing the rice until translucent, about 2-3 minutes.

STEP FOUR:

Then add the raw butternut squash that has been cut into cubes, salt and spices.

STEP FIVE:

Give a few stirs then, add a splash of white wine. Add the rice and stir.

Scrape up all those browned bits, let the wine evaporate then add the broth. Be doubly sure to get all the browned bits. Using a wooden spoon helps.

I have been using this veggie boullion – it has great flavor.

STEP SEVEN:

Pressure cook on high for 6 minutes.

Naturally, release for 5 minutes, then manually release.

Give a little stir and toss in a couple of handfuls of baby spinach to bump up the nutrition.

STEP EIGHT:

At this point, you could leave it vegan and drizzle with a little olive oil– or the flavorful Leek Oil.

Or you could stir in some butter, ghee, goat cheese or parmesan to taste.

If you like a looser risotto, add a little more broth or water to get the consistency how you like it.

As you keep stirring the butternut will break down a bit. It will add a nice creaminess.

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