The Question of Leftovers

I love leftovers. Especially the ones that can be easily adapted to completely different meals. Case in point: the leftover roasted chicken and sauteed broccoli rape from Sunday was tossed into our pasta last night, along with a couple of tablespoons of pecorino romano cheese. Dinner in 10 minutes!

But sometimes, leftovers leave me a little stumped. Second case in point: the butternut squash risotto I made last week. Risotto's wonderful stuff (and this was a particularly delicious recipe, you should check it out), but it's hard to know what to do with it if you don't have a microwave. Most of the time, I mix leftover risotto with an egg and form it into little pancakes that I then fry off. They make a delicious side dish. But this time, I thought I'd try something different. I think it was the Joy of Cooking that gave me the idea by providing a recipe for quinoa served in an acorn squash. If you can do it with quinoa, why not risotto that's already cooked? And it just so happened I  had an acorn squash from the farm. So, I tossed a little olive oil and seasoning on it, threw it in a 375 oven for a while, scooped the risotto on top, and warmed it through. The result was delicious--the risotto stayed creamy, and the flavors in it played nicely with the squash. The acorn squash not only made for a pretty presentation, it provided a little more food for both of us,  which we needed, just post-workout. So, here it is:

Squash Stuffed with Risotto
Serves 2

1 acorn squash (or other small, similar squash that can be hollowed out), split lengthwise, seeds removed
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1-1 1/2 cups cooked risotto

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Drizzle olive oil over the cut squash, and season with salt and pepper. Place squash cut side up on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes, until a fork easily pierces the flesh.

Scoop risotto into the squash, return squash to oven and roast another 10 minutes, until risotto is warmed through.

Remove from the oven and serve--a nice salad or some green beans goes really well with this.