Summer squash risotto

To celebrate the beginning of autumn, I wanted to cook a risotto. I choose this recipe from "River Café Cook Book Green" from Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers. This book is really nice, there are 12 chapters, one for each month, always with ingredients of the season. But don't use it if you absolutely want to cook some meat. Most recipes are vegetarian!

For 6 people

500 g crookneck and/or patty pan squash
500 g green and/or yellow zucchini
1 litre chicken stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper
125 g unsalted butter
1 red onion, peeled and finely chopped (or a yellow one is ok)
inner white heart of 1 head celery, finely chopped
400 g carnaroli rice
150 ml extra dry vermouth (or dry white wine)
finely grated zest of 2 large washed lemons
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
150 ml double cream (for us in Switzerland it means "full cream")
100 g Parmesan, freshly grated

Wash the zucchini and place them in a bowl of cold water for an hour. Dry and finely chop.
Wash the patty pans, cut off the stems, cut in half and then into quarters. Wash the crookneck, cut in half lengthways. Then finely chop.

Heat the chicken stock and test for seasoning.

In a large thick-bottomed saucepan, melt the butter and cook the onion and celery on a low heat until completely soft. Add the rice and stir to coat each grain with butter. Add the vermouth and about a quarter of the chopped squash and zucchini. Allow the rice to absorb the vermouth, then start to add the hot stock ladle by ladle, allowing the last one to be absorbed by the rice before adding the next. After the first 15 minutes, add the rest of the chopped squash and zucchini. Cook, stirring continuously and adding stock, until the rice is al dente, about another 5 minutes.

Stir in the lemon zest, thyme, double cream and half the Parmesan and stir vigorously. Serve with the remaining Parmesan.


To help you to find the right squash, some pictures:

patty pan squash

crookneck squash