no-stir zucchini risotto
IT'S BUMPER CROP TIME!
It’s a holiday weekend, so I suspect many of you are reading this before you spend the day sitting by a body of water, hiking somewhere pretty, or luxuriating in the AC somewhere fun. Whether you have a busy day ahead or not, this is a meal you can absolutely pull off tonight when you get home, no matter how drained you may be. It requires very few ingredients (I bet a bunch of you already have them all in your garden, pantry, and/or fridge!), it is so dang easy (it’s a no-stir risotto — just needs a little stirring at the very end!), and it is so. dang. delicious. It’s creamy, bright, and tastes like SUMMER, while also being cozy and comforting.
I served this meal to the boys’ sitter, Quinn, for lunch on Wednesday and her response was, “HOLY SHIT!” which I think sums it up quite eloquently. It’s vegetarian — and I love it that way! — but see the “must have meat” note beneath the recipe for ideas for how to bulk it up with extra protein, should you want to.
Across the country, zucchini plants are popping off right now. They’re a notoriously prolific producer (AKA, a bumper crop!), which is a great thing considering how nutritious they are. Zucchini is packed with vitamins A, C, and B6, folate, magnesium, manganese, and fiber. It’s also a chameleon in the kitchen, with a mellow flavor that takes on the flavors it’s cooked in. Grill it, sauté it, zoodle it, grate it like we do in this risotto. The options are endless! Here are a few more recipes to cook if you have a surplus of zucchini in your life right now:
grilled squash and zucchini with charred scallion and cotija salsa (serve them with the steak tostadas, as written, or with any grilled protein!)
zucchini skillet lasagna (warning this is probably the most time-intensive WTC recipe of all time, but it’s really really delicious)
Once you’ve fallen in love with this no-stir risotto, you can cook my mushroom iteration next. The walnut crunch we top our bowls with is one of my finest inventions. It would be delicious here too, in fact. This roasted asparagus farro-tto has a similar vibe, too!
Serves 4
Cook time: 50 minutes (10 minutes active, 40 minutes inactive)
Tools:
Large heavy-bottomed, oven-proof pot such as a Dutch oven or braiser
Box grater
Ingredients:
4 cups reduced-sodium chicken or vegetable stock, plus more as needed (or 4 cups water + 4 teaspoons chicken- or veggie-flavored Better Than Bouillon)
2 shallots, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 medium zucchini, grated
2 cups arborio rice (you do not need to rinse it)
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (ideally freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano)
4 tablespoons butter
1 large lemon, halved
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced (optional)
Extra grated Parmesan (optional)
Preheat oven to 350°F. Position an oven rack in the middle of your oven.
Add 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock to a large oven-proof heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven and bring to a boil over high heat. While it's coming to a boil, mince 2 shallots and 4 garlic cloves, and grate 3 medium zucchini.
Once the stock is boiling, turn off the heat and stir in 2 cups arborio rice, the grated zucchini, and the minced shallots and garlic. Cover the pot (you can use a baking sheet if your pot doesn't have a lid) and transfer it to the oven. Bake for 40 minutes.
Remove the risotto from the oven and stir in 1 cup grated Parm, 4 tablespoons butter, and the zest and juice of 1/2 the lemon. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste (I didn’t need to add any salt!). If it's too thick, add a splash more stock (or water) to loosen it up. If it's too thin, just let it sit for a minute or two — the rice will continue to absorb the liquid.
Serve the risotto on its own or topped with any meat. It’s very filling and wonderful on its own — don’t be afraid to go vegetarian! Garnish with extra grated Parmesan, lemon zest, and thinly sliced basil if you'd like. DIG IN!
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WTF do I cook this in? If you own a Dutch oven or braiser — bingo, one of those. If you own a stainless steel pot, you can use that! Stainless steel is ovenproof! A 12-inch cast iron skillet is perfect too, just throw a rimmed baking sheet on top to serve as the lid. When in doubt: Flip your pot over to find the brand name and specs and Google “is XYZ ovenproof?“
Bring this to a friend who needs a food hug: Deliver it with 1 cup of stock and instruct them to reheat it in a skillet, and stir in a bit of stock as needed until they get the right consistency. If I was delivering this meal for a meal train, I’d also send some chicken and/or a salad (either homemade or a good bagged salad!).
Feeding kids: This is a VERY kid-friendly recipe (just call it cheesy rice or pasta, whatever they like), Cashel absolutely crushed this meal while I was testing it. If yours have hawk eyes for anything green, you could peel the skin off the zucchini before you grate it to avoid any green flecks. Also skip the basil and lemon zest garnish for picky eaters.
Must have meat: If you want, top your zucchini risotto with some grilled shrimp or chicken, or perfect pan-seared chicken breasts. OR! Slice up kielbasa or chicken sausage and add it to a sheet pan (if using chicken sausage, coat it with a teaspoon or so of oil) and bake it in the oven during the final 15 minutes of the risotto’s cook time. You could also grab Italian sausages and squeeze the meat out of the casing into little 1-inch “meatballs” on a baking sheet. Bake it for the risotto’s last 20 minutes of cook time, or until cooked through.
Gimme some (more) greens: Stir 2 big handfuls of chopped spinach into the pot when you add the cheese, etc.
Make ahead/love your leftovers: Cook the whole thing up to a day ahead of time and store it in the fridge covered in the pot you cooked it in. Leftovers are good stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat in a skillet on the stove over medium heat (or in the microwave) and stir in more stock as needed to get things loose and creamy again.
Freezer-friendly: Freeze leftover portions of this risotto in quart-sized Ziplocs for a quick lunch or dinner later on! See the “make ahead” note above for how to reheat it once it has thawed.
Gluten-free: Already is! Just double check that your stock doesn’t have any additives containing gluten.
Dairy-free: Use dairy-free Parm like VioLife, and a DF butter. You could also omit the Parm and top your bowls with a vegan cashew “Parm.” To make, pulse 3/4 cup roasted cashews, 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast, 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder, and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt together in a blender or food processor until they form a crumbly powder.
Stock: 4 cups water + 4 teaspoons Better Than Bouillon, bone broth for extra protein, or reduced-sodium chicken or veggie broth
Shallots: 1 small yellow, white, or red onion, 2 leeks (thinly sliced and washed), or thinly sliced scallions
Garlic: 1 teaspoon garlic powder or 4 cubes frozen crushed garlic
Zucchini: Yellow squash or eggplant grated like the zucchini or 1 bag of cauliflower rice (fresh or frozen). Roasted cherry tomatoes would also be very very delicious in this risotto. For that, halve 2 to 3 cups of cherry tomatoes and add them to a sheet pan with a few teaspoons of oil and pinch of kosher salt. Bake them for the last 20 minutes of the risotto’s cook time, then stir them into the finished risotto along with the other ingredients.
Arborio rice: Farro, white rice, barley, or brown rice would be great!!
For farro, white rice, or barley: Heat the oven to 375°F and use 1 1/2 cups grain with 4 cups of stock. Bake for 40 minutes.
For brown rice: Heat the oven to 350°F and use 1 1/2 cups brown rice with 6 cups stock. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes (start checking at 50 minutes to see if all the stock is absorbed and the rice is cooked through — add more time as needed).
Parm: Grana Padano, Pecorino Romano, shredded white Cheddar, or one of the DF options listed above
Butter: Olive oil or ghee
Lemon: No sub for the zest. Swap the juice for 2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar. Or if you have a bottle of white wine open, add a splash of that.
Basil: If you want basil but are out, swirl in some pesto!
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Editor: Molly Ramsey
A note for GF folks out there — Arborio rice is gluten free (sometimes pre packaged risotto mixes aren’t, but all rice is naturally GF), so you don’t have to do the brown rice sub unless you want to!
Too hot to turn on the oven tonight so I made this in my instant pot! Basically followed the directions as is then 6 min high pressure + quick release to cook. So delicious!