Acorn Squash Quinotto

Experimenting in the kitchen

Last weekend I went up to Jackson Heights to visit a friend.  After a long and fulfilling meal at Urubamba, we passed by some grocery stores where I did my fair share of shopping for Peruvian products. Among my spoils were cancha, yuca, aji (amarillo y rocoto), olluquito and quinoa.

I have never actually cooked with quinoa before, so I thought it'd be an interesting experiment to make some quinotto, a Peruvian version of risotto (as per my dad's suggestion).  I have the bad habit of never following recipes...or better said, making things up as I go along.  In this case, I wanted to use ingredients that were already in my kitchen.

Those included the quinoa, acorn squash (roasted, peeled and chopped), baby spinach, pancetta and parmesan cheese. Usually, if I had a bottle of white wine in the fridge, I'd pour a little in.  But in this case I didn't, so I added a little bit of beer instead (what the hell?). The thing I liked about the quinoa is that it doesn't require quite the same amount of tending and supervision as a traditional risotto.  I just ladle in the broth and wait for it to be soaked up.  Minimum stirring necessary.

 

The whole thing took about 20-25 min. Topped it off with some pepper (no salt needed, in this case the beef broth was salty enough) and a little more parmesan before serving.  My guinea pig was Jeremy, who said it was good, but no more than a glorified side dish.  I bear in mind that he is quite critical of meals without meat.