Squash and Escarole Risotto/baked romaine with onion-anchovy sauce

Tonight's dinner - a really tasty risotto with butternut squash and escarole (curly endive). Peel and cut a cup of butter nut squash into half inch cubes (and another cup  of thinly sliced strips) and cook the cubes with some thinly sliced onion in a cup of water. When the squash is tender, drain and reserve the squash/onion mixture. Coarsely cut a head of escarole. Cook the rice (Carnaroli) in a little oil, add a little wine (half cup) until absorbed. Add the squash and onion mixture and 3 cups of the escarole. Add a cup of good chicken stock and stir constantly while the rice absorbs the stock. Keep adding stock in half cup amounts until it is absorbed and then add more - it will require 3-4 cups of liquid to get the rice to the right consistency (tender and creamy). Lightly saute the remaining sliced squash and the remaining escarole. Once the risotto is done, spoon it into a bowl, mix in some grated parmiagiano-reggiano cheese and top with the sauteed squash/escarole mixture.


For the salad - combine a quarter cup of oil, one and a half cups of thinly sliced onions and 6  anchovies with a cup of water and simmer gently until the onion is soft (15-20 minutes). Bake a quartered head of romiane (keeping the root end attached) with a little olive oil and salt. I also baked some Belgium endive leaves as well just to see how it would work. After 10 minutes tranfer the romaine to a cutting board; remove the root ends and, using a fork twirl each piece of romaine into a circular round on a plate. Add a lttle parsley and white wine vinegar to the onion mixture and top the romaine mounds with the mixture.
The onions are unbelievably sweet but nicely balanced with the saltiness of the anchovies and the acidity of the vinegar.