vegan friendly

Five weeks into the baking and pastry course and I’m super-ready to move on to the savory side. You’ll notice that I didn’t post a “week five” of culinary school because I’m kinda sort of over pastry. However, I really did enjoy the kudos doled out by my colleagues when I brought in the devil’s food cake with coconut-vanilla buttercream frosting. Yep, that was pretty good – I even had a small piece.

This weekend, I was really ready to get back to cooking what I love the most – savory foods. And what better to make than a season-appropriate risotto? I was anxious to try the Arborio rice I picked up from Eataly a couple weeks ago and this seemed the perfect opportunity to take advantage of it.

I love risotto because you can pretty much do anything with it. There are ingredients that will work with every season of eating and it’s a hearty dish, that when made well, can even work as a light summer dinner. Tonight’s recipe is no exception. Everything that went into this one was acquired at the local farmer’s market and was super delish.

Risotto can’t be rushed, so make sure you allow yourself at least 30 minutes cooking time (more to prep your ingredients) to pull this together. It will be well worth the time investment!

Recipe adapted from Iowa Girl Eats

Serves 2-3 (Or just 2, if you’re really hungry and want to have seconds. Which you probably will.)

• 3 – 3-1/2 cups vegetable broth (can substitute chicken broth)
• 1 Tablespoon butter (To make vegan, use 2 tbsp olive oil)
• 1 medium shallot, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• salt & pepper
• 3/4 cup arborio rice
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 small zucchini, quartered and chopped (about 1 cup)
• 1 large tomato, seeded and chopped (about 1 cup)
• 1 ear sweet corn, kernels cut from cob (about 3/4 cup)
• 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• handful torn fresh basil

Directions:

1. Bring broth to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat to low and keep hot.
2. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat then add shallot and garlilc, season with salt and pepper, and then saute until tender, about 3 minutes.
3. Add rice then stir to coat in butter. Add wine then stir until nearly absorbed by rice. Add 1/2 cup chicken broth then stir constantly until broth is absorbed. Continue adding broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly until nearly absorbed before adding more.
4. When there’s 1/3 of the broth remaining, add zucchini, season with more salt and pepper, then continue stirring. When there’s 1/4 of the broth left, add corn then continue stirring. Add the tomatoes with the last batch of broth then stir until absorbed.
5. Take risotto off heat then stir in parmesan cheese and basil. Add more salt & pepper to taste then serve.
6. Garnish with whole basil leaves, if desired.