Lemon Vegetable Risotto

Those beautiful, colorful veggies are a plenty this time of year and the last thing you want to do is let them go to waste. This year, my hubby and I planted our first vegetable garden and are having fun maintaining and eating up the homegrown goodies throughout the short, but sweet North Dakota growing season. On top of that, the summer squash fairy visited our doorstep this week and left us a bag of the biggest summer squash I have ever seen. If you find yourself with copious amounts of summer squash, green beans, peas or any summer veggies for that reason, make this light, summery risotto. Enjoy!

Ingredients

8 ounces green beans, trimmed and cut

8 ounces peas

5 teaspoons olive oil

1 (8 ounce) summer squash, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices

4 3/4 cups vegetable broth

1 teaspoon vegetable bouillon seasoning

1/2 cup finely chopped shallots

1/2 cup roughy chopped yellow onion
Salt (pinch)
Pepper (pinch)
White sugar (pinch)

1 cup uncooked arborio rice

1/4 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh pecorino Romano cheese

1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add green beans and peas; cook for three minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain and rinse under cold water then set aside.

Heat a large nonstick skilled over medium high heat. Add two teaspoons of olive oil to pan to coat and add one tablespoon of butter. Add the chopped yellow onion, salt, pepper and sugar and toss to coat. Let carmelize on medium-low heat for twenty to thirty minutes, stirring occasionally. Once carmelized, add squash and cook until browned on both sides. Set aside.

Heat remaining one tablespoon olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add shallots and cook for three minutes or until tender. Stir in rice and cook for one minute, stirring constantly. Stir in wine and cook until liquid is completely absorbed, approximately thirty seconds. Stir in one cup of the broth and cook for five minutes or until completely absorbed, stirring constantly. Reserve 1/4 cup of broth.

Add remaining broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly until each portion of broth is absorbed before adding the next. Sir in the vegetables, cook one minute, then remove from heat. Stir in reserved 1/4 cup of broth and remaining ingredients. I mixed in most of the cheese in the pan then plated the risotto. To finish, I topped the plated risotto with the lemon juice, lemon rind and a sprinkle of the remaining cheese.

The recipe was adapted from one found in Cooking Light magazine.