I wanted a summer vegetable risotto that I’d never tasted before. Seeing the beautiful cherry tomatoes and firm zucchini at the farmer’s market gave me an idea. Why not combine them? But how? Grated zucchini is one of my staple vegetable dishes, so that seemed obvious. I couldn’t imagine putting raw cherry tomatoes in the risotto. Then I remembered a delicious recipe I had made as a quick pasta sauce—cherry-tomato confit. The resulting combination was a success with my spouse and my guests.
First wash, dry, and grate the zucchini on the large grater holes over a colander placed in a large bowl. Sprinkle on a teaspoon of sea salt, mix, and let the zucchini drain for about 10 minutes. You place the colander over a bowl to capture any of the draining liquid, which you will use to enhance to the vegetable’s flavor in the risotto.
Drain grated zucchini in a colander.
Then grab a handful of the grated zucchini in paper towels, and squeeze as much liquid as possible into the bowl.
Squeeze liquid from zucchini.
Sauté the zucchini in a tablespoon of olive oil for just a minute or so to soften it. Set aside.
Gently sauté zucchini.
Wash the cherry or grape tomatoes, dry them, and cut in half. Place them in a baking dish with olive oil, sea salt, grated lemon zest, 4 cloves of crushed garlic, and peperoncino (dried hot chili-pepper flakes). Bake in a 300° oven for about 45 minutes or until lightly caramelized. In last 10 minutes, add fresh thyme and oregano. Discard the garlic cloves. Set aside.
Tomato confit.
Bring chicken stock and the zucchini liquid to the simmer. Cook chopped onion in olive oil in a large Dutch oven until lightly golden (not brown) and tender.
Sauté onions in olive oil.
Add the Arborio rice to the onions and coat and toast the grains over medium heat until they begin to be translucent (about 2 minutes). Add 1/2 cut of dry white wine, stirring constantly until the wine is evaporated.
Toast the rice.
Add 1/2 cup of simmering liquid to the rice and stir until evaporated. Don’t let the rice stick to the pan. Continue adding 1/2 cup of liquid at a time, stirring each time until the liquid evaporates. Regulate the heat so that the rice never goes beyond the simmering stage. Once you have used up most of the simmering liquid, taste the rice to see whether it’s tender. You may have to add an additional cup or two if the rice is still too hard. Just be sure any liquid you add is simmering.
Most risotto recipes claim that the rice will be done in 16 to 20 minutes. I have never found this to work for me. I find it takes about 30-35 minutes to attain the right consistency.
Add chicken stock 1/2 cup at a time.
Lower the heat and add the grated zucchini and the cherry-tomato confit. Heat through for a minute or two.
Decorate the risotto with basil.
Remove the casserole from the heat, and stir in 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter and 1/2 cup of grated Parmigiano. Taste for seasoning. Decorate with fresh basil leaves and let your guests add as much extra Parmigiano as they like.
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