People who cook tend to fall into two categories - those who follow recipes dutifully weighing each ingredient and those who use them as kicking off points and chuck in what looks right. I tend to be in the latter group, hence "improv". So rather than give exact quantities, etc; I'll describe how I assembled this risotto and leave you to make your own adjustments.
This was a "use up what's in the fridge" exercise more than anything else - I'd bought a couple of fairly small butternut squashes and had one lurking. I took as my kicking off point this recipe from the BBC site.
I try to keep some basic ingredients in stock - celery and onions are one of the basics of Italian cookery and many other western cuisines. If you are making a true bolognese sauce you need these and carrots before anything else!. So these are my "store cupboard" items that went into the dish:
1 stick celery
1 red onion (I was out of white!)
vegetable stock (I use a powdered low salt vegan bouillon)
raw cashew nuts (I keep these as they are a useful nut to add to several dishes)
garlic (the recipe says two cloves, I cheated and used a cube of frozen crushed)
olive oil
risotto rice (I had arborio in stock)
black pepper
parmesan cheese
My "use up" items were the fairly small butternut squash to which I added a small (about 6ins long) sweet potato.
I prepared the squash as in the BBC recipe (peel, cut the solid end into 2cm or 3/4 inch cubes. Remove the seeds from the bulb end and chop roughly.) The small sweet potato was also cubed. To coat the cubes of sweet potato and squash with oil, I put enough olive oil to cover the base of my risotto pan (a covered, straight sided frying pan is fine); added the cubes, put the lid on and shook. The coated veg were then put into a baking pan in the oven. The recipe states 200C/180C fan/ gas 6 for half an hour tho I think a higher initial temperature followed by reducing the temperature to the "official" one would have given a crisper crust. The chopped squash bulb was added to the stock to poach.
Some water had migrated to the olive oil so I heated it a little before adding a small handful of cashew nuts to toast until golden brown. I then put them to one side. I should explain I keep cashews in stock as they are a useful protein and fiber source for vegetarians. They can be used to bulk up pine nuts when making a pesto. In this dish they also add another texture and a third source of protein besides the rice and cheese which will help ensure a complete balance of amino acids.
The rest more or less followed the recipe - cook the chopped onions covered on a low heat until translucent, add the finely chopped celery, garlic and a couple of twists of black pepper and cook covered for a further 2 minutes or so. I then added the risotto rice - I used about 150ml of it rather than weigh it. Cook uncovered on a slightly higher heat for about 5 minutes. At this point you can add a glass of wine - white is best in this dish, you can use virtually anything you happen to have in your fridge or a glass of white vermouth if you have that. I did not and in retrospect I should probably have added a tablespoon or two of lemon juice (bottle in the fridge) to add some acidity to the first addition of stock. I did not have the herbs specified in the recipe but you can add a bay leaf and thyme if you have it.
After the wine has evaporated, add the cashew nuts. Gradually add the rest of the stock - stirring gently with each addition. The squash in the stock will be soft by the time you get to the last of the liquid - mash it up and add it to the risotto. While you are doing this, grate the parmesan. I used both the fine side of an ordinary grater and the largest side but lightly to produce the shavings you see in the photo. Not necessary but gives a prettier effect. When the rice has cooked - it should be al dente - take it off the heat and chuck on about half the parmesan you intend to use. Check the seasoning - I use very little salt. I also try to cut down on fats so I probably used a bit less olive oil and no butter which the recipe suggests. Butter (NOT margarine) gives an extra gloss to the risotto when added at this stage. Let the risotto rest for a couple of minutes to allow the cheese and butter to melt before you mix it in.*
By this time your cubes of squash and sweet potato should be well colored on the outside and cooked through. Chuck your risotto into serving bowls and arrange the cubes artistically on top. The micro basil and parsley leaves in the photo are just there for decoration as I have them sprouting on my windowsill - as it is a sort of Italian dish, it makes up the national colors when you sprinkle more parmesan on top of the dish.
This made a fairly large complete meal for one. Served as suggested in the recipe with crusty bread and sauted spinach would make a good main course for two although you may want to add a little more rice than I used. *Another alternative if you have some baby spinach leaves is to add a good handful before you rest the risotto at the end of cooking. This will allow the spinach to wilt down and cook through before mixing into the risotto with the cheese.
On the subject of the cheese; parmesan is made using a specific method only in a designated area of Italy around the city of Parma. The packaging should show the logo of a wheel and wedge of the cheese against a blue circular background above the words "PARMIGIANO REGGIANO" in yellow on a blue rectangle. Below should be "Autorizzazione Consorzio Parmiagiano-Reggiano" followed by a number. In addition there may be a circular EU "Protected Designation of Origin" logo. No other cheese is parmesan. In the USA some imitation may purport to be parmesan. Some "Italian style" copies are reasonable but please avoid at all costs pre-grated packaged sawdust even if it is proper parmesan. Fine grating releases the flavor and allows it to melt into a dish better, the shavings I made were to look pretty. If you want to use less of it but retain the flavor because of your diet, you can finely grate it and add up to a quarter of the volume in finely ground fresh black pepper. Tightly cover this mixture and keep in the fridge for several days, a week is best. The pepper looses its fire and takes up the flavor of the cheese.
Enjoy!