Monster Zucchini Part 5: Zucchini-Basil Risotto

Oh man, after making this I totally regretted that I had never tried to make risotto before. It's supposed to be one of those labor-intensive, easy-to-fuck-up recipes that is best left to the pros... but somehow making ours was really easy and pretty fast. maybe it was because all the shredded zucchini naturally gave it a nice mushy texture, so we didn't have to worry so much about slow-cooking the rice to get it creamy. anyway, this recipe was awesome. the flavor is surprisingly complex, with sweetness from the zuccs, nuttiness from the rice, garlic and onion, spicy basil, and just a light overtone of parmesan (far from commercial risottos that often taste like pure parmesan mush).

Zucchini-Basil Risotto
adapted from andreasrecipes.com; serves 6 - 8

6 cups vegetable broth (1 or 2 cups can be water)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 medium yellow onion, finely diced
2 medium zucchini, grated
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups Arborio rice
8 fresh basil leave, chiffonade
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbs butter
1/4 - 1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Start by heating up all of your vegetable broth until almost boiling - keep it hot but don't let it boil. Heat your oil on medium, then saute the onion until it softens. Add the garlic and sautee another minute or two (don't let it brown at all). Add the rice and saute another 3 or 4 minutes, stirring, until the rice turns translucent and starts to smell nutty. Add the zucchini and stir 1 - 2 more minutes to evaporate some of the liquid. Now add about a cup of the vegie broth, stir, and let the rice cook, uncovered, until the broth is "absorbed" - that term confused me in the recipes because I didn't know how dry the rice should be, but it worked for me to cook it until the rice was about as moist as I would want my risotto to be. Once it's absorbed, add another cup of broth and repeat. Keep doing this until the rice is fully cooked - there should still be individual grains with some chew of their own, but no crunch. You probably won't end up using all of the broth. Turn down the heat on the rice and stir in the basil, salt, pepper, butter, and parmesan. Enjoy!