Zucchini Risotto with Parmesan

Name: Creamy Zucchini Risotto with Parmesan
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 50 min
Cuisine: Italian cuisine
Ingredients: Arborio rice 1 cup (180 g); Zucchini 1; Carrot 1; Parmesan 2 tbsp (14 g); Garlic 2-3 cloves; Basil (fresh) 1-2 sprigs; Olive oil 3 tbsp; Vegetable stock or chicken broth 0.8–1 l; Salt, black pepper, sugar to taste

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50 mins

Early summer is the peak season for young zucchini. Although the zucchini comes from America, it has settled in well in the Old World and is perfect for vegetable risotto.

Zucchini arrived in Italy in the age of Columbus, but for quite a long time it was grown only as an ornamental plant. Once the Italians developed a taste for it, they started eating even the flowers. Both pale green zucchini and their relatives with striped, multicolored skin, called courgettes, went into the pot. In Italian, zucchini is zucca, zucchine.

Zucchini risotto is especially delicate and tasty when the zucchini are very young, with bright green skin and seeds that haven’t formed yet. Cook the broth for the risotto ahead of time. Water works too, but broth tastes better. Another zucchini dish I recommend is risotto with mushrooms and zucchini. And next to it in the risotto series is eggplant risotto.

9 ingredientsTo the recipe

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Ratatouille from Fresh Young Vegetables with Herbes de Provence

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Ingredients

2 servings

Arborio rice 1 cup
(180 g)
Zucchini 1
Carrot 1
Parmesan 2 tbsp
(14 g)
Garlic 2-3 cloves
Basil (fresh) 1-2 sprigs
Olive oil 3 tbsp
Vegetable stock or chicken broth 0.8–1 l
Salt, black pepper, sugar to taste

Step-by-step recipe

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The zucchini should be as fresh and young as possible, straight from the garden, with beautiful pale green skin. Then you don’t need to peel it: just trim the ends and cut it into cubes. The seeds haven’t formed yet, so the risotto will be delicate.
Heat the olive oil in a deep saucepan and fry the garlic cloves, crushed with the flat of a knife. The garlic is only there to flavor the oil. Then throw it away.
Peel the carrot and cut it into cubes, or grate it on a coarse grater. Fry the carrot in the oil until soft, adding 1 tsp of sugar (5 g). The sugar keeps the zucchini, which goes in next, from losing its color while frying. Otherwise it turns dull and unrecognizable. Fry the carrot for 2-3 minutes, stirring.
Add the diced zucchini, season with a little salt and ground white pepper. Fry the zucchini until soft.
Add the Arborio rice and stir. Fry the rice with the zucchini for another 3-4 minutes, until the rice is coated with a film of oil. Then add 0.5 cup of vegetable stock (100 ml) or chicken broth. Stir, bring to a boil and cook until the rice has absorbed all the liquid. Keep adding the broth in small portions, each one only after the previous one has been fully absorbed.
When the rice is completely cooked, add a little more broth so the risotto has a porridge-like consistency.
Sprinkle the risotto with finely grated Parmesan.
Stir until smooth, sprinkle with finely chopped herbs and serve right away.
Zucchini risotto is a wonderful, tasty and filling breakfast.