• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Histamine Friendly Kitchen

  • Home
  • Recipe Index
  • Histamine Intolerance
  • Histamine Friendly Food Lists
  • Healing Your Gut
  • About me

Risotto with Butternut Squash

November 1, 2016 by taniasurrow

Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

For me risotto has always been the ultimate comfort food. And when I first found out that I was histamine intolerant and no longer could have cheese I saw my beloved risotto go bye bye. But after some time, trials, and some inspiration from Gwyneth Paltrow. I have now found a great basic recipe for risotto that I can then very on depending on the season and my mood. The basic recipe is adapted from the risotto recipe from a cookbook by Gwyneth Paltrow and Julia Turshen called “IT’S ALL GOOD”. I have mentioned this cookbook before in another post (“Black Rice with Green Veggies and Fish“), and I think these two different rice recipes are the once I make use of most from this cookbook.

Risotto with Butternut Squash - Low Histamine

Even though this is a comfort food type of recipe it is still packed with veggies. And like me, my kids love risotto too, so they get quite some “hidden veggies” on risotto night, which is a double bonus. For the risotto you start with sautéing some finely chopped white onions and a finely chopped leek with a bit of oil in a pan (use a thick bottom pan for the best result). If you don’t tolerate leeks you can leave it out or replace it with some extra onion and some garlic, if tolerated. I sadly don’t tolerated garlic very well at the moment, so you won’t find it in many of my recipes. But I hope to be able to reintroduce it soon. If you have no problems with garlic, please use it as garlic has many wonderful qualities other than bringing some extra flavor to your food. Cook the onion and leek for about 5 minutes until they are soft. Season with a bit of salt and thyme. If you want to add garlic to this dish, now is the time. Cook for another minute or two, to get the aromas going.

Onions and Leeks cooking away :)

Add the rice to the veggies and fry them for couple of minutes, under constant stirring. I usually use Arborio rice, as it is the type of risotto rice most commonly sold here in the Netherlands where I live. Then pour in the vegetable bouillon, give it a good stir to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pan. At this stage, it really doesn’t look like much. Bring it to a simmer, turn down the heat and cover the pan with a lid. And then you just let it stand for about 30 minutes and let it cook. Years ans years ago I used to add small amounts of liquid at a time and then stir until all the liquid was absorbed by the rice, and then repeat until all the bouillon was added. Which honestly made me not want to make risotto. But then, about 10 years ago, I read a recipe for risotto in some diet book (I have forgotten what it was called, and I don’t have the book anymore) , where all of the liquid was added at once and then just simmers for 30 minutes with no stirring. I have never cooked risotto any other way since.

Low Histamine Risotto in the making

Then it is time for the butternut squash. Peel it, remove the seeds and cut into cubes of about 1,5 cm. If you want you can fry up the seeds in a pan, or roast them in the oven, and eat as a crunchy topping for the risotto, or just snack them. No need to throw them away. Here is a good all round tutorial on how to roast them in the oven. Place the butternut squash cubes in an oven tray, drizzle with a bit of oil, and season with salt and a bit of thyme. Roast for 30-40 minutes at 200 °C (390 °F), take care that they don’t burn.

Oven Roasted Butternut Squash

After about 25-30 minutes of simmering the rice have absorbed most of the liquid, and at this stage I add in some leafy veggies. In this version it is this beautiful red kale I found at the organic market here in Eindhoven (NL) this weekend. But very often I add some frozen peas and some frozen kale at this stage. When peas are added it is mostly for the benefit of my kids though. Don’t get me wrong I like peas, but my kids adore them and can’t ever get enough of them.

Purple Kale - So beautiful

When the extra veggies are added the risotto needs to still be wet. If there is no liquid left at this point, the risotto was cooked at too high a temperature. If this is the case for you add a little more stock and let it simmer at a lower temperature next time you make it. After adding the extra veggies (and making sure it hadn’t gotten too dry) put the lid back on and cook the leafy veggies with the risotto for about 5 minutes. then take off the lid and cook while stirring until your risotto have reached your preferred texture. Creamy, not too wet and not too dry. Then add some butter (if you are avoiding dairy olive oil works just fine too) and season to taste with some salt.

Low Histamine Risotto with Purple Kale

The red kale looses a bit of its red color, and in return the risotto goes slightly pink. Served with the roasted butternut squash this is a perfect histamine friendly autumn risotto. I don’t even miss the Parmesan cheese any more. If you are making this risotto you can always place some grated Parmesan cheese on the table for the people not dealing with Histamine Intolerance. Thus making it an optional topping. Serve it up and enjoy 🙂

Low Histamine Risotto with Butternut Squash - ready to be eaten o/ YUM!

 

Print

Risotto with Butternut Squash

4.5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Tania Surrow Larsen, The Histamine Friendly Kitchen
  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 40 mins
  • Total Time: 50 mins
  • Yield: 2-3 1x
Print
Pin

Description

Deliciously creamy low histamine risotto with kale and butternut squash. Cheese free, dairy free option.


Ingredients

  • 1 white onion (middle-big)
  • 1 leek
  • 60 g red kale (ca. 2 oz)
  • 500 g butternut squash (about half a squash, 17–18 oz)
  • 185 g arborio rice (6.5 oz)
  • 1 L vegetable stock (ca. 4 cups)
  • 1 1/2 tsps thyme
  • salt to taste
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 25 g butter (a knob of butter, or about 2 tbsp)*

Instructions

  1. Finely chop the white onions and the leek. Sauté with about ½ a tbsp of olive oil in a pan. Cook the onion and leek for about 5 minutes until they go soft. Season with a bit of salt and 1 tsp of thyme (if you want to add garlic to this dish, now is the time). Cook for another minute or two, to get the aromas going.
  2. Add the rice to the veggies and fry them for couple of minutes, under constant stirring. Then pour in the vegetable stock, give it a good stir to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pan. Bring it to a simmer, turn down the heat and cover the pan with a lid. Let it simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes.
  3. Peel the butternut squash, remove the seeds and cut into cubes of about 1,5 cm. Place the butternut squash cubes in an oven tray, drizzle with a bit of oil (½ tbsp), and season with salt and a bit of thyme (½tsp). Roast for 30-40 minutes at 200 °C (390 °F).
  4. After about 25-30 minutes of simmering the rice have absorbed most of the liquid, add the red kale, finely chopped. At this stage the risotto needs to still be a little wet. Put the lid back on and cook the kale with the risotto for about 5 minutes. then take off the lid and cook while stirring until your risotto have reached your preferred texture. Creamy, not too wet and not too dry. Then add the butter and season to taste with some salt.
  5. Serve with the oven roasted butternut squash and enjoy. The nutritional value has been calculated based on 1 out of 3 portions.

Notes

  • if you have a very strong vegetable stock, use 1/2 L of the vegetable stock and 1/2 L of water.  1/2 L is ca. 2 cups.
  • For dairy free version, replace the knob of butter with a little olive oil.

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @histamine_friendly_kitchen on Instagram and hashtag it #histaminefriendlykitchen

butternut-squash-risotto

 

In full disclosure the link to amazon above is an affiliate link, which means that if you click on to the product in question and buy it, I get a small commission. This will hopefully help me to cover some of the costs to running this blog. However, this does not cost you anything additional when you order through one of these links.

Filed Under: All recipes, Autumn, Dinner, easy, gluten free, Lunch/Dinner, Pumpkin, Rice, vegetarian

Previous Post: « Sweet Potato Pancakes with Oats
Next Post: Quinoa Salad with Roasted Veggies »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lauren says

    December 5, 2017 at 11:06

    Thanks so much for this recipe just made it and it’s delish. Next time I’ll use half stock and half water as a bit strong. Would you freeze even if using in 2 days cause of raised histamine? Thank you






    • taniasurrow says

      December 6, 2017 at 08:54

      Hi Lauren 🙂

      I’m really happy to hear you liked it 🙂 Awesome!!! As for freezing, it really depends on how sensitive you are to leftovers. I normally freeze down my food if I don’t plan on eating it within 24 hours. And honestly this dish has never made it to the freezer 😉

      I hope this answers your question,
      Tania

  2. Diana says

    December 17, 2018 at 17:04

    Thank you so much for this recipe!! I started eating low histamine a couple of weeks ago and this is one of the best dishes I’ve tried thus far! We added roasted pumpkin seeds as a little personal twist^^

    • taniasurrow says

      December 17, 2018 at 21:55

      Hi Diana 👋

      What a great tip about the pumpkin seeds 🙂 it is always great with a bit of crunch 😀

      I’m beyond happy that you love the recipe. It is my go to comfort food dish, just makes everything in the world feel okay again <3

      Tania

      Ps you should give the Jerusalem artichoke risotto recipe a try too 😊

  3. Melanie K says

    May 21, 2021 at 07:04

    I love this recipe! I have made it four times in the past month since I’ve been on a low histamine diet due to suspected post Covid MCAS. I have been missing so many foods, so this recipe makes me very happy as it is full of flavor. Tonight I added some fresh oregano to the fresh thyme along with roasted Brussels sprouts. The only issue have is that my family keeps eating it all because it’s so yummy!!






    • taniasurrow says

      November 25, 2021 at 23:44

      Hi Melanie,

      Uhh YUM, roasted brussels sprouts sounds like a great addition to this dish. I will add that next time I make this. <3

      Tania

      P.S. I hope you feel better.

Primary Sidebar

Hi and welcome to my Blog "The Histamine Friendly Kitchen"!
I want to dedicate this blog to recipes low in histamine or "histamine friendly" as I like to say, just to put a little positive spin on it ;) I hope you will enjoy these recipes. Feel free to leave a comment and add your own personal twist to the recipes :)

Tania Surrow Larsen

Read More…

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

FREE eBook

Download your free copy of the "Five Histamine Friendly Smoothies"eBook

Instagram

You might also like……

Low Histamine Jerusalem Artichoke Risotto

Gluten Free Pistachio Granola

Gluten Free Pistachio Granola

Anti-inflammatory Carrot & Fennel Soup

Butternut Squash Pie with Kale and Goat Cream Cheese

Turmeric, Coconut and Veggie Rice Bowl

Footer


This blog is brought to you by Tania Surrow Larsen, The Netherlands. Follow me on social media for some Histamine Friendly Inspiration.

More about me

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Creative Commons License
Some rights reserved.
All content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

The Histamine Friendly Kitchen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

The Histamine Friendly Kitchen is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk.

SITE DESIGN COPYRIGHT © · FOODIE PRO & THE GENESIS FRAMEWORK

Copyright © 2025 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress