Zucchini risotto

This risotto adds rich flavour by stirring through caramelised zucchinis. Roughly chopped zucchinis are slowly cooked over low heat for 40-60 minutes, allowing their natural sugars to develop and concentrate, resulting in a sweet and complex flavour. Add fresh lemon juice and parmesan for fresh brightness and serve with salad, lemon wedges and sweet chilli jam.

Zucchini risotto Credit: Kitti Gould

• serves

  4

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  1:20 hour

• difficulty

  Mid

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Ingredients

• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 leek, finely chopped
• 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
• 500 g Vialone nano risotto rice
• 50 g butter
• ½ cup dry white wine (we used Chablis)
• 2 litres homemade chicken stock, warmed (see below)
• ½ lemon, juiced, plus lemon wedges to serve 100 g finely grated parmesan
• 1 cup curly parsley leaves, roughly chopped
• Italian salad mix, to serve
• sweet chilli jam, to serve (see Note)

Caramelised zucchini

• 3-4 tbsp olive oil
• 5 medium-small zucchinis, sliced into rounds then coarsely chopped
• 1 small garlic clove, finely chopped

Chicken stock

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 kg chicken wings, chopped into pieces
• 1 brown onion, chopped
• 2 litres store-bought chicken stock
• 2 fresh bay leaves
• 4 black peppercorns
• 2 tsp salt flakes
• 2 carrots, unpeeled, roughly chopped
• 2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
• 1-2 leek tops, washed and roughly chopped
• parsley stalks

Instructions

1. To make the chicken stock, heat the olive oil in a pressure cooker. Add the chicken wings and cook, stirring occasionally for 20 minutes, or until browned. Add the remaining ingredients to the pan, then pressure cook for 40 minutes. Pour into a colander over a large pan, then a muslin lined fine mesh sieve into a saucepan or large jug.
2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil for the zucchinis in a large frying pan. Add the zucchinis and cook, stirring occasionally for 40-60 minutes, or until caramelised. Stir through the garlic in the final 5 minutes of cooking.
3. Meanwhile, heat the oil for the risotto in a large heavy-based saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the leek and celery and cook until the vegetables are softened. Stir through the risotto rice. Add the butter and white wine and simmer. Add ¾ of the chicken stock and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes, or until al dente, adding extra stock as necessary.
4. Stir through the lemon juice then add parmesan and caramelised zucchini. Spoon among bowls and scatter with parsley. Serve with salad, sweet chilli jam to the side with lemon wedges.

Notes

• Vialone nano is a semi-fino (semi-fine) grain, best used for making a creamy risotto or semifreddo al riso.

• This recipe used Maggie Beer chicken stock and Batch Made sweet chilli jam.

Photography by Kitti Gould.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

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