Summer Vegetable Risotto & Garden Loot

Check out the recent loot from my garden!!

A gentry squash (yellow), an eight ball zucchini, Cascade Beans (thanks KimberlyNE!), and some mysterious purple beans... sadly these all go green when you cook them.



Two more gentry squash looking rather like they're birds enjoying a conversation.


Not featured, snap peas! While the humid, rainy weather and otherwise cool temperatures are not doing my tomatoes well (I've got late blight. :( ), the squash plants and beans and peas are doing very well!! Now starts the process of trying to creatively use tons of beans, peas, and squash from the garden! I still had a quart of homemade vegetable broth left in the freezer from my last huge batch this winter, so I decided to use it to make a nice summer vegetable risotto. I used a yellow squash, beans, snap peas, and a half of a yellow bell pepper I had in the fridge. I also sauteed up a handful of shiitake and oyster mushrooms and added it to my portion. At the very end I stirred in a generous handful of fresh basil chiffonade (leaves rolled up like a cigar and cut into thin strips), sprinkled it with faux Parmesan sprinkles from the Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook (I make mine with half pine nuts and half sesame seeds. SO GOOD!) and it was divine!!

This recipe is really more of a technique. You can use any veggies you have in the house and as many of them as you've got. You can use less arborio rice if you want less risotto as long as you keep the 4:1 liquid to rice ratio.



Summer Vegetable Risotto
1.5 cups Arborio Rice
6 cups vegetable stock, simmering on the stove
1 tbsp olive oil + more for sauteeing vegetables
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 summer squash, diced
3/4 cups each green beans and snap peas, cut into small pieces
1/2 bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a sautee pan, heat a little oil and sautee the veggies (minus garlic) until they are tender-crisp, about 5 minutes

2. In a large pot (3 quarts at least), heat the tbsp of oil and sautee the garlic for a minute until it starts to sizzle, then add the rice and stir it around so it get coated in oil. Once coated, add a few ladles full of the hot broth. Stir.

3. When the liquid is mostly absorbed into the rice, add a couple more ladles full of broth. Stir. Stir it every few minutes at least, and keep adding more liquid until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender. It will get very creamy! This process should take around 20 minutes.

4. Fold the veggies and basil into the rice. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve, sprinkled with your Parma sprinkles.