Faux Risotto

I love breakfast, provided it is served at 4 pm.  Not eating in the morning and then working through till the late afternoon, is not a good thing.   The other day, I got home late in the afternoon.  I was not up for cooking and it was one of those days where there was nothing in the house.

In the refrigerator, I had bits of this and that and dragged it out.   The was about a cup of cooked rice from Sunday's chicken and rice.  The was a small container of cooked squash leftover from the gigantic pot of squash that hadn't fit into freezer bags.  There was a thumb-sized piece of grana padano.  All together, I thought, it bore a striking resemblance to a risotto.

I mixed the rice and the squash and cooked it till it was steamy.  Then I finished it like a risotto, adding a dollop of half-and-half and a bit of grated cheese.  I had a sliver of cheese left that I grated on top.

It looked like risotto.  It tasted like risotto.  It took about 5 minutes.  I would be willing to bet that there are only a handful of discerning diners who would have known he difference.  I am thinking of trying it out on a larger scale.