Butternut Squash Barley Risotto

I made this as a Thanksgiving side. It was delicious!! I did get the recipe from the Today's Parent Canada website. I did change a few things so that my vegetarian Grandmother could eat it so I write out my recipe and put the changes in brackets.

Ingredients:

1 box (900 ml) of vegetable stock (or chicken stock)
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup water (or you can leave out the wine and just add another 1/2 cup of water instead)
1/4- 1/2 cup of water for baking sheet
4 cups of butternut squash mash (or cut into cubes)
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
(1 bay leaf)
1/2 tsp dried or fresh thyme
pepper to taste
1 cup grated Parmesan
1 cup pearl barley
1 cup finely chopped onion

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F. Pour broth, wine and water into a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover until ready to use. You can steam your squash if you wish but we roasted ours. So cut the squash into half and place face down on a rimmed parchment lined baking sheet. Pour the 1/4 -1/2 cup of water onto the baking sheet and place in oven for about 25-35 min or until the flesh is tender (you test that by putting a fork through the skin, if it goes in easily it is done and if it doesn't slide in easily then it needs more time). Let the squash cool and peel the skin off. Cut into chunks or mash.
In another medium to large pot heat butter and oil and add onion. Cook until onion is tender then add half the broth mixture, barley and thyme. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Simmer for about 15 min, stirring occasionally until most of the liquid is absorbed. Ladle in another 1/2 cup of broth and stir frequently until most of the liquid is absorbed again. Continue repeating the adding the 1/2 cup of broth and stirring until the liquid is absorbed until the barley is tender. Remove the bay leaf if you used it and add the Parmesan and the squash and stir it all in until the cheese is melted in.
Serve and enjoy!