recipe box · Pasta & Rice
Jamie’s Oozy Zucchini Risotto with Mozzarella & Fresh Basil
My favorite risotto, good with any addition.
Ingredients
- 1 small onion
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 stalk of celery
- 1 pat of unsalted butter
- Olive oil
- 1 small zucchini
- 2 vegetable stock concentrates (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06X3XR7HR)
- ¼ bunch of fresh basil
- ½ oz parmesan cheese
- ¾ cup arborio rice
- Optional: 3 tbsp white wine
- ½ a fresh red chili
- 4 oz fresh mozzarella
Steps
- Bring 4 cups water with the stock concentrates to a boil in a medium pot; once boiling, reduce the heat to low. Peel the onion and finely chop 1 cup onion. Trim the celery and finely chop along with 1 clove garlic. Place a medium pan over medium-low heat.
- Place the butter in the hot pan with the onion, garlic, celery, a splash of oil, and a splash of water. Reduce the heat to low and cook for around 5 minutes, or until softened, stirring occasionally.
- Trim the zucchini, slice lengthways into quarters, then chop into small ¼-inch chunks and put to one side.
- Pick and reserve the basil leaves, then add the stalks to the pot of stock. Once the vegetables are very soft but not browned, add the rice to the pan.
- Stir and sauté the rice for 1 minute until translucent, then add the wine (if using) and keep stirring until it has been absorbed by the rice.
- Turn the heat under the rice up to medium, then add a ladleful of hot stock, avoiding the basil stalks — these are there to add flavor, not to be eaten!
- Stir constantly and continue adding stock, a ladle at a time, waiting for the rice to soak it all up before adding the next ladleful. Continue until you’ve used two-thirds of the stock.
- Finely chop the basil leaves and the chili (seed the chili if you prefer a milder heat).
- Stir the chopped zucchini into the stock, and keep adding it (zucchini and all) until the rice is just cooked and the risotto has a nice oozy consistency — if you run out of stock, use hot water.
- Take the pan of risotto off the heat. Tear the mozzarella into small pieces and stir into the pan with half the basil.
- Stir in half the parmesan, then season to taste with a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Cover with a lid and let sit for two minutes.
- Divide the risotto between two plates, scatter over the remaining parmesan, basil and the chili, then tuck in!
From the margins
- Shrimp, sausage, zucchini, and other options add in perfectly.
- No wine? Swap in the same amount of extra stock instead.
- For 4: 8 cups water with 4 stock concentrates, 1 large onion, 2 cloves garlic, 2 stalks celery, 2 zucchinis, ½ bunch basil, 1½ oz parmesan, 1½ cups arborio rice, ¾ cup white wine (optional), 1 fresh red chili, 8 oz fresh mozzarella.
Source: Jamie Oliver / HelloFresh recipe card