If You Bought Too Much Zucchini (Again), Make Risotto

An abundance of zucchini hanging out in the vegetable drawer is a familiar sight for many home chefs. The gourd is extremely abundant, inexpensive, and it keeps for a long while, so it's easy to accrue a good amount without even thinking about it. When that happens, there are some great ways to use it up. You could bake it into an easy homemade zucchini bread, or swap it in place of traditional eggplant for a delicious zucchini parmesan. 

But one of the best (and most cost effective) ways to use up your leftover produce is in a risotto. Not only is it a tasty accompaniment to the nutty, warm flavor of the rice, but zucchini will actually help bring some moisture and unctuousness to the mix.

Risotto grains are naturally very thirsty. Zucchini, meanwhile is 94% water. So, the two make for a practical pairing. That hyper-hydration of zucchini will not only help your risotto stay moist, but it'll also help the flavors to not be watered down since you'll need less stock to fully cook the rice, and the grains will be able to fully absorb every ounce of the veggie flavor. 

Speaking of flavor, zucchini's subtle sweetness lends itself beautifully to risotto. That sweetness is really intensified by cooking it down low and slow alongside the rice, which itself has a sweet undertone once toasted.

Making risotto is a pretty simple process, and the technique doesn't waver too much regardless of what goes in it. It doesn't matter if you're using zucchini, wild mushrooms and red wine or a combination of butternut squash and sage. In the case of zucchini it's actually even simpler than most other recipes. Begin by toasting the rice with butter and some finely chopped shallot — toasting the rice will bring out its natural flavor, highlighting its nuttiness. The shallot will also bring a lovely sweet undertone, complementing zucchini's tendency to do the same when cooked.

Rather than just adding in all your zucchini at the end, try incorporating the veggie bit by bit throughout the cooking process (all you have to do is grate in small amounts). Doing this gradually ensures that all that flavor is really absorbed into the rice — much more so than if you simply dumped it all in at once after cooking. To guarantee a perfect texture, make sure you stir continuously throughout — that agitation will release the starches in the rice, resulting in that silky texture in a great risotto.

When it's ready to be served, finish things off with a boatload of parmesan, olive oil, and pepper. To spice things up a little bit, grate some lemon zest in at the very end of cooking. This'll brighten things up, highlighting zucchini's summery notes and balancing out the richness of the parmesan and rice. It's the perfect way to turn potential waste into something truly delectable.