Alissa Timoshkina’s millet risotto with pancetta & sage butter

Ingredients

• 200g pancetta
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 2 celery sticks, finely diced
• 1 carrot, finely diced
• 300g millet
• 700ml vegetable stock or water
• 120g unsalted butter (20g to stir through the porridge, 100g for sage butter)
• 1 small butternut squash
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ½ cup of hazelnuts, roasted and finely chopped
• A handful of sage leaves

Method

Heat up a medium pot or a casserole and fry the pancetta without any oil for about 10 mins, until it starts to crips up and releases most of its fat.

Next add the finely diced onion, celery and carrot and fry for another 5-8 mins until the vegetables soften. You can add some salt to taste at this point if you are not going to use a vegetable stock that is already seasoned.

Add the chopped parsley and fry for around a minute before adding the millet. Stir through to make sure the vegetables and the pancetta are evenly mixed. Top with the vegetable stock.

Cook on medium heat for 20-25 mins, stirring occasionally. If you see that the stock has been absorbed but the millet is still under-cooked, add an extra 50-100ml stock or water. Once the porridge is cooked, take off the heat, add a knob of butter for some extra creaminess, as well as salt and pepper to taste, stir through, and let sit under a tight lid for 20 mins.

In the meantime, prepare the squash. Heat the oven to 200C. If using a fresh young squash, I like to leave the skin on for a bit of added texture and bite. Cut the squash into medium wedges and dress with salt and olive oil. Lay flat on a roasting tray, making sure not to overcrowd the veggies, and cook in the oven for 30 mins or until golden and easily pierced.

Make the sage butter by melting 100g unsalted butter in a pan on low heat. Once the butter starts to bubble, add the sage leaves and fry for 1-2 mins or until they crisp up. Sprinkle with salt flakes.

To serve, divide the porridge onto four plates and arrange the squash wedges on top. Sprinkle with toasted hazelnuts and drizzle the sage butter all over, crumbling a few leaves per plate.

You can omit the pancetta if you’d like a veggie option, in which case I would highly recommend crumbling some feta on top to add a bit of extra saltiness and creaminess to the vegetarian dish.

Recipe from Salt & Time by Alissa Timoshkina (‎Mitchell Beazley)

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