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    Home » Side Dish

    Zucchini Risotto with Basil

    Sep 10, 2009 · Modified: Nov 29, 2020 by Andrea · This post may contain affiliate links · This blog generates income via ads ·

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    Zucchini Risotto with Basil - Andrea Meyers

    Zucchini season will soon come to an end, but there’s still time to enjoy this icon of the summer garden. We’ve made salads, pasta, bread, gratins, and all sorts of things with zucchini, even though it was a sad zucchini year for us after losing all our zucchini plants to garden pests. Risotto is comfort food for me anytime of the year no matter what I put into it, and this zucchini risotto with our fresh homegrown basil and garlic does not disappoint. The Grana Padano cheese adds a slightly nutty yet delicate flavor that is worth the search, but you can also substitute Parmigiano Reggiano if you can’t find Grana Padano. The recipe is adapted from My Italian Garden, by Viana La Place (in my personal collection), a lovely little book with watercolor illustrations based on cooking from her own Italian garden in San Francisco. The book is divided into seasons, making it perfect for cooking with seasonal produce.

    Grow Your Own logo This is my contribution to Grow Your Own, the blogging event that celebrates the dishes we create from foods we've grown, raised, foraged, or hunted ourselves. Praveen of Masala Heaven is our host for this round, so be sure to visit her blog for more information about submitting your post. If you are new to the event, you can read more about the rules for participating at the Grow Your Own page. I hope you will join us!

    Basil, garlic, Grana Padano cheese, and zucchini squash - Andrea Meyers

    Zucchini Risotto with Basil - Andrea Meyers
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    Zucchini Risotto with Basil

    Adapted from My Italian Garden, by Viana La Place.
    Prep Time15 mins
    Cook Time45 mins
    Total Time1 hr
    Course: Side Dish
    Cuisine: Italian
    Diet: Gluten Free, Vegetarian
    Keyword: basil, gluten free, rice, squash, summer, zucchini
    Servings: 8
    Calories: 284kcal

    Equipment

    • 3-quart sauce pan with heavy bottom
    • 2-quart sauce pan
    • box grater (optional)

    Ingredients

    • 6 cups vegetable broth
    • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil (+2 tablespoons)
    • ½ medium yellow onion (finely diced)
    • 2 medium zucchini (grated)
    • 2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
    • 2 cups Arborio rice
    • 8 fresh basil leave (chiffonade)
    • sea salt (to taste)
    • fresh ground black pepper (to taste)
    • ½ cup Grana Padano cheese (freshly grated. You can substitute Parmesan if necessary.)
    US Customary - Metric

    Preparation

    • In the 2-quart sauce pan, bring the vegetable broth to a simmer. Keep it hot but not boiling.
    • In the 3-quart sauce pan, heat ¼ cup olive oil over low heat. Add the onion and sauté slowly until soft. Add the zucchini and garlic and sauté over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the rice and stir until the rice is translucent, about 1 to 2 minutes.
    • Reduce temperature to low. Add the hot broth to the rice mixture one ladleful at a time, stirring frequently. Wait until the liquid is absorbed before adding the next ladleful of broth. Midway during cooking, add the basil and salt and pepper to taste. Continue cooking until all the broth has been added.
    • Test the risotto to make sure it’s al dente, but not too hard. If it’s still a little crunchy, add a ladleful of water and continue stirring. When risotto is ready, remove from heat and stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the Grana Padano cheese. Serve immediately.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 284kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 4mg | Sodium: 810mg | Potassium: 182mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 543IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 86mg | Iron: 2mg
    Tried this recipe?Share in the comments!

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. The Trinigourmet says

      September 10, 2009 at 10:09 pm

      This is beautiful Andrea! Never thought of putting zucchini into risotto 🙂 Will give it a try! 🙂

    2. Christina@DeglazeMe says

      September 10, 2009 at 11:43 pm

      Indeed risotto is comfort food! I think the effort that goes into making risotto, constantly stirring for 30 minutes straight, makes it that much more comforting.

    3. Stephanie says

      September 11, 2009 at 12:51 am

      Thank you for the link, my dear!

    4. Rosa says

      September 11, 2009 at 1:02 am

      Delicious! Your risotto looks perfect!

      Cheers,

      Rosa

    5. suzanna says

      September 11, 2009 at 8:40 am

      Very nice! I just posted almost the same dish on my blog 2 day ago, only my basil was purple. And everything was homegrown - onion, cucchini, basil and even garlic.

    6. Cookie says

      September 11, 2009 at 12:57 pm

      YUM! What a great recipe to welcome the fall! Anything with the word Risotto in it sounds so comforting!

    7. Jessica says

      September 11, 2009 at 1:57 pm

      Wow. This looks great! I'm a sucker for risotto, so I'm always looking for new recipes to try.

    8. Hillary says

      September 11, 2009 at 2:06 pm

      Your risotto looks creamy and perfect. I just made my own porcini risotto the other night. Love the idea of zucchini risotto!

    9. Kate says

      September 12, 2009 at 5:38 pm

      This looks lovely. I so would like a bite!

    10. TexasDeb says

      September 13, 2009 at 9:52 am

      Like the new(er?) portrait shot. Am inspired by the risotto recipe. Now that temps have finally dropped here (relatively speaking anyway) I am thrilled to consider the addition of some warm comfort foods in our dinner roundup. With zuke leftover from a bread baking project, this might be just the ticket to use it up in an unexpected way. Thanks for sharing.

    11. Alisa - Frugal Foodie says

      September 13, 2009 at 10:59 am

      Wow, the dish sounds amazing, but your photos take it to a whole other level! Beautiful.

    12. Chris says

      September 13, 2009 at 11:07 am

      Looks like you nailed the risotto! Well done.

    13. Sam@BingeNYC says

      September 14, 2009 at 2:52 pm

      Yum - I am such a sucker for a good risotto. And if I can use up some of these zucchini? I'm in. Looks delicious.

    14. Stephanie says

      September 14, 2009 at 5:40 pm

      BTW, I just linked to you back from that same post. 🙂

    15. Lynda says

      September 15, 2009 at 4:13 pm

      I see what you mean by comfort food. This risotto looks so creamy and satisfying - comfort in a bowl.

    16. Gudrun says

      September 18, 2009 at 8:02 pm

      I love risottos! My favorite way is to make them in my pressure cooker. This recipe looks intriguing - for some reason, I would not have thought to put basil in, but now that I read it, it sounds perfect.

      BTW, love the new blog design, I would love to hear more about how it came to be! Maybe I will see you at BlogHer Food?

    Trackbacks

    1. Tweets that mention Zucchini Risotto | Andrea Meyers -- Topsy.com says:
      July 20, 2010 at 11:28 pm

      [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by gardengatefood, Alison Fromme. Alison Fromme said: RT @gardengatefood: made my first risotto this week and it was YUM! could have doubled the zucchini plus i just sliced it thin, not grated. http://bit.ly/bPatJF [...]

    2. Light Zucchini Hummus Recipe says:
      November 25, 2011 at 10:07 pm

      [...] are more great uses for those prolific zukes: Zucchini Risotto Sauté of Zucchini, Almonds, and Pecorino Herbed Zucchini and Feta Quiche with a Brown Rice [...]

    3. Zucchini - The best summer vegetable - Feeding Big says:
      May 30, 2014 at 6:01 am

      […] Zucchini Risotto with Basil […]

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