Risotto with zucchinis and cherry tomatoes

A recipe from cooking-ez.com

For 6 people, you will need:

• 1 1 courgette
• 2 250 g cherry tomatoes
• 3 1 onion
• 4 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 5 herbs of your choice
• 6 1 garlic clove
• 7 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 8 50 g Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano)
• 9 100 g Mascarpone
• 10 5 tablespoons olive oil
• 11 200 g rice
• 12 1 glass dry white wine
• 13 1 litre chicken stock
• 14 salt
• 15 pepper
• Total weight: 2,280 grams

Times:

Preparation	Cooking	Start to finish
20 min.	40 min.	1 hour

Step by step recipe

1	Preparing the vegetables Prepare 1 courgette, and cut into small cubes. Set aside.
2	Cut 250 g cherry tomatoes in half, and sprinkle with fine salt. Set aside.
3	Prepare and chop 1 onion.
4	In a frying pan over medium heat, pour 4 tablespoons olive oil and when hot, add 1 tablespoon chopped onion, salt and pepper. Cook for 1 minute without browning.
5	Pour in the diced zucchini and cook until just tender, but don't overcook. Season with salt at the end of cooking, and remove to a plate.
6	In the same pan, over slightly higher heat, add 4 tablespoons olive oil, 1 garlic clove and the herbs of your choice (in this case bay leaf, rosemary, tarragon, sage and thyme). Cook for 1 minute, stirring to flavour the oil.
7	Pour in the cherry tomatoes, and cook for around 5-7 minutes, until tender and barely colored. Remove and discard the herbs and garlic, then transfer to the zucchini plate.
8	Cooking the risotto In a bowl, mix together 50 g Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano) and 100 g Mascarpone. Set aside.
9	In a large saucepan over medium heat, pour in 5 tablespoons olive oil and when hot, add the remaining chopped onion, salt and pepper. Cook for 1 minute, stirring, without browning.
10	Pour in 200 g rice and let the rice grains become translucent, stirring constantly.
11	Pour in 1 glass dry white wine, and stir without stopping...
12	...until it has been completely absorbed by the rice.
13	Then pour in a little broth...
14	...and stir gently until the rice has absorbed it too. Repeat this operation several times, adding a little stock each time, until the rice is tender and creamy. It's a bit time-consuming, and you'll have to pay close attention, stirring almost constantly, but that's the secret of risotto.
15	At the end of the cooking time, lower the heat, add the mascarpone + parmesan mixture, and mix well.
16	Finishing touches Add the zucchini and tomatoes, mix well and check the seasoning. Your risotto is ready.

Remarks

If possible, use small, firm zucchinis.
As always with risotto, the amount of stock you use depends on the type of rice you're going to use.
If you don't have mascarpone, replace it with cream.
Depending on your taste, you can replace the chicken stock with vegetable stock.

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