Malto Mario


Feast


The Lady & Sons


1,000 Italian Recipes

Monday, October 09, 2006

Meeta's Monthly Mingle No. 4

I was getting a little worried about this month's Monthly Mingle.. as coming up with something that included zucchini and sage was posing a problem for me. I could think of a zillion zucchini recipes, but I don't use sage that often in my cooking. I did not want to disappoint the very lovely Meeta so I really needed to come up with something!

After a lot of recipe research in cookbooks and online, nothing really sounded very inspiring. Bummer. BUT! When I decided to cook a big meal for Hubbs and I yesterday afternoon, I decided that instead of serving potatoes with the roast, I'd like some creamy risotto. As you know, risotto is very versatile and many different ingredients work well in it. I wondered how zucchini and sage with maybe a little hit of mild onion would taste in a basic risotto recipe? Ha! It was fabulous! And now, I've created a risotto recipe that I will use again and again - I lurve when that happens!

So if you aren't familiar.. this month's Monthly Mingle is called "Take Two". Meeta gave us all the challenge of coming up with a dish that included zucchini and sage. Here is my submission, I hope you try it and I hope you check out all the rest of the creative dishes when she posts the roundup this coming weekend. There is still time to get in your creative sage and zucchini dish as well! The deadline is Oct. 12 - so get cookin' kids! :D

Sage, Zucchini & Green Onion Risotto
Lisa's Sage, Zucchini and Green Onion Risotto


2 small to medium zucchini, cut into coins and then quartered
3-4 green onions, sliced thin
1 TBS. fresh, chopped sage
1 TBS. butter
1 1/4 c. Arborio rice
3 - 3 1/2 c. chicken stock
1 generous pinch of sea salt
Ground black pepper, to taste

In a large skillet, melt the butter and then saute the zucchini and onions (reserve about 1 TBS. of the sliced onions) until translucent. Add the rice and saute until it just begins to brown. Season with salt and pepper. Add 1/2 c. of the stock and stir rice until it soaks up most of the stock - then continue on in this fashion, 1/2 c. of stock at a time, until you've used all the stock - this should take between 20 and 30 minutes and the rice should be very creamy. Add the fresh sage with the last 1/2 c. of stock. Once the rice has absorbed the last of the stock, sprinkle the reserved onions on top and serve.

*Note: When I make risotto, I normally add a good handful of Parmigiano or Pecorino. I did not do that this time as I wanted the other flavors to shine through, but I can't imagine it not being just as delicious with the addition of the cheese if you so desire. :D

Labels: , , , ,

Comments on "Meeta's Monthly Mingle No. 4"

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (10/09/2006 8:17 AM) : 

Ooh, bravo! I saw this event and had a ponder but ended up throwing in the towel because I couldn't think of what I'd possibly do to combine them! This looks wonderful :)

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (10/09/2006 9:29 AM) : 

That Meeta! She is such a clever girl!

And you ... you are brilliant for this risotto!

 

Blogger Gattina Cheung said ... (10/09/2006 9:52 PM) : 

Lis,
your risotto looks and sounds fabulous! I'm not very creative when come to sage... either in poultry or deep-fried... will try adding in risotto next time :)

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (10/09/2006 10:42 PM) : 

I love risotto and yours looks so appetising! I now have dinner for tomorrow night, we had a great Italian dinner tonight and I regretted not having risotto...and then I read your blog...! Life is beautiful!

 

Blogger Lis said ... (10/10/2006 6:39 AM) : 

Thank you gals.. I had some warmed up last night and it was even better than the day before.. yum :D

 

Blogger Meeta K. Wolff said ... (10/14/2006 3:30 AM) : 

I thought I had already posted a comment for this but it seems to have disappeared. But at least I get to come back a drool over that risotto again. I love it Lisa! Perfect with the ingredients.

Thank you for bringing it to the Mingle.

 

post a comment