Butternut Squash Risotto With Shrimp

Tonight I cooked a great dish, that I remixed from a recent bon appétit recipe, for a few friends.

~Butternut Squash Risotto With Shrimp~

Recipe:
6oz bacon
1lb large uncooked deveined peeled shrimp
1tbsp olive oil
2 small onions, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
6 cups vegetable broth, heated to a heavy simmer
1 1/2lb butternut squash, roughly 2 small squash, cut into 1/2in cubes
1 1/2tbsp dried sage

Directions:
Cook bacon in a large frying pan over medium heat until bacon is crisp. I would recommend cooking the entire package of bacon. That way you can munch on them while drinking a cold Brooklyn Brewery Oktoberfest (an amazing seasonal beer) while cooking the rest of the dish. Transfer 6oz of bacon to a paper towel and cook shrimp in a small amount of bacon fat until browned and cooked through, about 3-4min. Save the remaining bacon fat in a small jar for other recipes. Chop bacon into small pieces and place into a medium bowl. Mix cooked shrimp into bowl with chopped bacon. Add olive oil to large sauce pan and heat until oil starts to smoke slightly. Once oil starts to smoke, add chopped onion and garlic; cook until onion is translucent, stirring often, about 5min. Add arborio rice and sage, stir for 4min or until rice starts to brown. Add the pre-heated broth and bring to a boil. Add squash, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until rice is tender, about 15-20min. This is important, stir the rice through the entire process after adding the broth. Once the rice is firm add the shrimp and bacon. Season with salt and pepper then serve.

I had four of my favorite people over for dinner and they all loved this dish. The pairing of butternut squash with shrimp was amazing... I know, I know, two flavors that don't sound like they would work well together, but they really fused flavors to make an amazing dish! Our friends brought a side salad and a fresh home baked apple pie to top off this rice dish. While I openly rant that this risotto dish was amazing, the apple pie topped off the night and blew all of our socks off. I'll have to get my friend to post the recipe as soon as possible. Now I bid you all farewell, I must take out the trash before my fiancé kills me.
Enjoy!

Update: My fiancé took the trash out while I wrote this blog entry. I think I'm in trouble...