I’m not going to say how old I was the first time I tried risotto, but I can tell you it was in the past year! It tastes so much better than it looks. I had it at a restaurant and I’ve been wanting to recreate it at home and was quite successful, thank goodness, because I stood at the stove stirring it for over a half hour. My original plan was to use a peeler and peel thick slices of the zucchini and carrot but I couldn’t get them thick enough so I resorted to cutting thin strips with a knife which was a tad challenging with the carrots so be careful.
I used up some old Portobello mushrooms along with new baby bellas and these beautiful, multi-colored carrots. You can cook all the vegetables together with the mushrooms in one pan, but I did the zucchini and carrots separately because I wanted to lay them across the top the way it was served at the restaurant. I thought I bought a nice block of cheese, maybe gruyere, to shave over the top but either I was dreaming or someone ate it, so I had to use shredded cheese. For the liquid to rice ratio I followed the recommendation on the package thinning out the broth a bit. This will serve six if you make a salad to go with it.
Vegetable Risotto
2 1/2 C low sodium vegetable broth
1 1/2 C water
2 T butter or substitute
1 sliced zucchini
3-4 small to medium carrots
1/4 C chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 t coconut oil
1 C chopped onion
3 cloves crushed garlic
1 t thyme
1/2 t sea salt
4 oz sliced mushrooms
1 1/2 C Arborio rice (uncooked)
1/2 C white wine
1/4 t ground black pepper
1/4 C shaved or shredded white cheese
Warm the stock and water in a small pan; set aside.
Put the butter (or oil) in a small pan with the zucchini and carrots over low heat. When vegetables are tender, stir in the parsley. Turn off heat and cover to keep warm.
Meanwhile, heat a large skillet with oil over medium heat. Add onion; sauté 2 minutes. Add garlic, thyme, salt, and mushrooms; stir and cook a few minutes. Add rice; and stir to combine well. Add wine; cook 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium-low and add stock mixture to rice one cup at a time. Cook and stir about 5 minutes after each addition until liquid is nearly absorbed. It will take about 1/2 hour incorporate liquid and soften the rice. Stir in pepper.
Transfer rice mixture to a platter or large, shallow bowl. Sprinkle with half the cheese and top with the vegetable mixture. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
