4 people
Francesca D’Orazio
A good risotto is always delicious, in every season. This recipe, with courgettes, becomes an excellent complete dish by adding courgette flowers stuffed simply with ricotta. Serve it with a nice salad to complete for a great Sunday lunch.
Ingredients
- For the rise:
- 300 g of Italian rice as Carnaroli, Arborio, Vialone Nano
- 1 small leek
- 350 g fresh zucchini
- 4 dried tomatoes
- 30 g of shelled and peeled pistachios
- 90 g of Grana Padano Riserva
- 70 ml of white wine
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 60 g of butter
- 2 tablespoons of basil chiffonade
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt
- For zucchini blossom:
- 8 zucchini blossom, pistils removed
- 200 g of ricotta cheese
- 2 Tbsp of grated Grana Padano dop
- 1 egg yolk
- salt
- 30 g of butter
Preparation
Stuffed zucchini blossoms:
Mix ricotta cheese with the Grana Padano cheese, the yolk, a pinch of salt.
Fill the flowers with the mixture obtained. It would be helpful using a pastry bag.Heat 1/2 glass of water (or broth used for risotto) in a pan, add butter. When hot, add the stuffed blossoms, cover with the lid and cook for about 4 minutes, making sure that the flowers are moisten. If not, pour some of the broth around the edges of the pan while still cooking.
For the rice:
Clean the leek (keeping the bottom white part aside) and the courgettes.
With the scrapes of vegetables and dried tomatoes, prepare a light vegetable broth: put them all together in a pot and cover with 2 L of cold water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Salt (slightly) halfway through cooking.
Prepare the zucchini sauce: slice thinly the zucchini and cook them in a pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, salt to season. Once cooked, blend them with 60 ml of broth, pistachios, 30 g of Grana Padano, basil (about 20 leaves), and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Keep warm.
