Make this creamy Zucchini Risotto this summer season. A creamy short grain rice cooked with tender zucchini, parmesan cheese and fresh basil. A great dinner served with a fresh crisp salad.
Yes friends, I’m adding another risotto dish to the ever growing collection! If you’ve been following for a while, you will know my love for Pasta, Pizza and Risotto dishes. There is just no end to what ingredients you can use and how many different dishes you can create.
A few summers back, I created a recipe for Creamy Broccoli Risotto. That’s a dish I make ever two or three months and we still love it. This recipe is a take on that risotto with a few subtle changes and the addition of the seasonal zucchini. Let’s take a look!
Find more Seasonal Zucchini Recipes!
What Is This Risotto Like
- Difficulty – This rice dish is a medium difficulty recipe to make. It’s really straightforward and doesn’t require many ingredients, but you need to follow the instructions carefully to get desired results.
- Taste – This rice dish is very creamy and the rice has a bit of a bite. The basoñ isn’t overpowering, it just adds an extra layer of flavour.
- Serving – You can serve this as a light main course or a side dish to a bigger meal. It makes four servings.
Ingredients
- Rice – This recipe uses arborio rice which is a short grain rounded rice. When cooked it’s creamy and chewy due to the high starch content.
- Onion – Small white onion.
- Zucchini – I used a medium seasonal zucchini for this recipe. I trimmed the ends and diced it up. You don’t have to pee the zucchini for the risotto.
- Olive oil – I used extra virgin olive oil.
- Garlic – Fresh minced garlic is best for this rice dish.
- Broth – I used vegetable broth to cook the rice.
- Herbs – A small amount of fresh basil is added at the end to add flavour
- Cheese – Freshly grated parmesan cheese is essential for this dish.
NOTE, The full recipe and ingredient list can be found at the end of the post in the recipe card.
Instructions
- Heat oil and garlic – Heat the olive oil in a medium sized deep sided pot. Add the garlic and give a good stir. Cook just for a minute or so.
- Add onion and zucchini – Add the diced onion and the diced zucchini, stir well and cook down for about 8 minutes or until golden and soft.
- Add uncooked rice – Add the uncooked rice. Stir well to coat the rice in the oil and cook until the rice becomes a little opaque around the edges, around 2 minutes.
- Start pouring stock and cooking – Add one cup/240 ml of vegetable broth and stir well. Occasionally stir until it evaporates, about 3 minutes. Add another 1/2 cup of broth, stir well and leave to cook stirring regularly until the broth has evaporated, about another 3 minutes or so. Add another 1/2 cup and repeat. Repeat until the rice is fully cooked and you have a creamy consistency. If your rice isn’t fully cooked, add a little boiling water. This process will take about 15 minutes.
- Finish dish – Add the parmesan cheese, butter and fresh basil. Stir in as much of the remaining 1/2 cup broth as you need to reach the perfect creamy texture. Remove from heat.
- Serve – Garnish with extra fresh basil if desired and serve immediately.
Recipe Tips
- Always use good quality broth – As a lot of broth is used, make sure the one you are using is worthy of your dish. You can usually buy quality stock in cartons. Try this and you will note a difference.
- Prep everything before you start – Prep all ingredients before you start to make the cooking easier.
- Use a heavy bottomed pot – Heavy bottomed cook wear produces even heat while cooking which is essential in making a good risotto.
- Keep stirring the risotto – This is key as it releases the starch from the rice and gives risotto its creamy texture. It also ensures the rice doesn’t stick and cooks evenly.
- Serve immediately – Risottos are at their absolute creaminess as soon as you take them off the stove top.
Substitutions
- Vegetable broth – I used store bought carton vegetable broth. It was a pretty good quality and added a great flavour. If you prefer, you can make your own broth from scratch (if you have time…lol). Or you can chose a little different flavour by using chicken broth.
- Fresh basil – I love this herb for risotto, but you can omit it and use dried basil or even dried oregano for a boost of flavour.
Serving
One of the wonderful things about Risotto dishes is that they are so versatile. Not only can you serve them as a Main Course, you can easily serve them as a Side Dish as well. This dish would go great alongside of so many salads like the 5 Minute Goat Cheese and Pecan Salad or the Caprese Salad.
Frequently Asked Questions
A heavy bottomed skillet works best. The heavy bottom will create even heat while cooking and help prevent the rice sticking.
Stirring the rice constantly is key. It’s important because the creaminess will come from the starch created through stirring.
Generally if your risotto is crunchy, the rice hasn’t cooked all the way through. You can correct this in the future by adding a little more stock while cooking. Another reason is that you probably cooked it too long in the oil before adding the wine or stock.
How To Make Basic Risotto
Butternut Squash Risotto
Pea & Mint Risotto
Zucchini Risotto
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 small onion finely diced
- 1 medium zucchini ends trimmed and diced into about 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 1/2 cups arborio rice
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- Small handful of fresh chopped basil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup parmesan cheese finely grated
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a medium sized deep sided pot. Add the garlic and give a good stir. Cook just for a minute or so.
- Add the diced onion and the diced zucchini, stir well and cook down for about 8 minutes or until golden and soft.
- Add the uncooked rice. Stir well to coat the rice in the oil and cook until the rice becomes a little opaque around the edges, around 2 minutes.
- Add one cup/240 ml of vegetable broth and stir well. Occasionally stir until it evaporates, about 3 minutes
- Add another 1/2 cup of broth, stir well and leave to cook stirring regularly until the broth has evaporated, about another 3 minutes or so. Add another 1/2 cup and repeat. Repeat until the rice is fully cooked and you have a creamy consistency. If your rice isn't fully cooked, add a little boiling water. This process will take about 15 minutes.
- Add the parmesan cheese, butter and fresh basil. Stir in as much of the remaining 1/2 cup broth as you need to reach the perfect creamy texture. Remove from heat.
- Garnish with extra fresh basil if desired and serve immediately.
*A note on times provided: appliances vary, any prep and/or cook times provided are estimates only.
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