I like to change things up every now and again. We don't have risotto too often here in Chez Stadium, but it's on the menu from time to time. Risotto is one of those things that people order in restaurants but hardly ever make at home because they think it's hard. It's not really, it just takes a little time and patience (something I usually lack in vast quantities. I am quite possibly the most impatient person on Earth, except when it comes to cooking. I have no idea why. Anyone care to psychoanalyze me? On second thought... don't.).
For this risotto, I started off by sauteeing some zucchini and onions together, 'til they were mostly soft.
Then I added some garlic and a bunch of halved heirloom cherry tomatoes. Oooohhh, look at all the pretty colors!
That's when you start adding the stock. You can use chicken, vegetable (which is what I used), beef, turkey, pork, tofu (ok, that doesn't really exist), shrimp, lobster, halibut, capybara, emu or fruit bat stock. Whatever you choose--no judgment here. Except if you use porcupine stock. Then I'll judge you. That's just gross.
So you add your stock one ladle-ful at a time, and stir it around until the rice absorbs all the liquid, then add some more. This is where the patience comes in handy. It takes about 20-25 minutes for the rice to become tender, and you have to do it very slowly.
Once it was mostly cooked, I added some pesto and some goat cheese to add lots of flavor. Mmmmm... flavor.
And here is the finished product. The pesto added this awesome basil-y pesto-y flavor in the background, but it was not overwhelming. So yummy!
I served the risotto alongside some tofurkey with tomato sauce and parmesan cheese. It is not a pile of meat with blood on top, which is what I first thought it was after looking at this photo after a period of a few weeks. But that's stupid. Why on Earth would I serve myself a pile of cow with bloody sauce? So, rest assured, it's tofu.
Damn, my photography really sucks.
Sigh.
Here is our little vegetable garden. These photos were taken Sunday, May 25. It is now Sunday, June 8 and everything you see here has doubled in size. Everything is now enormous! I think it has to do with the copious amounts of rain we have been enduring. Now, I am a true Oregonian and I love the rain. But I am ALL DONE with it. I am so ready for spring and sunshine!
In this bed there is (clockwise from top left corner): rosemary, pole beans, green pepper, basil, chives, oregano, cilantro, snap peas, hot pepper and another bell pepper. The cilantro is no longer a plant; it is instead a cilantro BUSH!
Here are four varieties of tomatoes and four varieties of squash.
Chives and snap peas in the foreground. (Droopy basil behind the chives. Basil needs warm weather, and this is Oregon in June. A normal person would think that it would be at least warm-ish in June. Mwah ha ha ha! You would be sorely mistaken! It has been colder than Siberia this June--really, that was a headline in a Seattle newspaper. But I'm not bitter about it. No sirree. Bring on the parkas and wool mittens! It's June in Oregon!)
Strawberries and mint in the bucket.
A little strawberry! So far we have harvested one. We split it and put it over vanilla gelato.
Mint for Cookie Monster's mojitos!
Then I added some garlic and a bunch of halved heirloom cherry tomatoes. Oooohhh, look at all the pretty colors!
That's when you start adding the stock. You can use chicken, vegetable (which is what I used), beef, turkey, pork, tofu (ok, that doesn't really exist), shrimp, lobster, halibut, capybara, emu or fruit bat stock. Whatever you choose--no judgment here. Except if you use porcupine stock. Then I'll judge you. That's just gross.
So you add your stock one ladle-ful at a time, and stir it around until the rice absorbs all the liquid, then add some more. This is where the patience comes in handy. It takes about 20-25 minutes for the rice to become tender, and you have to do it very slowly.
Once it was mostly cooked, I added some pesto and some goat cheese to add lots of flavor. Mmmmm... flavor.
And here is the finished product. The pesto added this awesome basil-y pesto-y flavor in the background, but it was not overwhelming. So yummy!
Damn, my photography really sucks.
