Zucchini and Tomato Risotto

I bought two new cookbooks this week. This next recipe is inspired by one of them (Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking). I have a feeling this book will be getting a fair amount of use in the future, but for tonight, I was more concerned about using up some of the zucchini, tomatoes, and basil that I had, so I skipped on doing one of the actual recipes. One interesting comment she had on risottos is that you should use a meat broth that is actually rather weak and that the flavour of chicken broth is too strong for risotto. I still used chicken stock, but I did dilute it (1 cup stock + 1 cup water).

Measurements are approximate. This made 1 - 2 servings. I was going for one, but ended up with leftovers, although I wasn't very hungry. It's been a while since I made risotto though and I have definitely missed it!

Zucchini and Tomato Risotto

Ingredients
1 zucchini, cut in 1/2" thick slices
1 shallot, diced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp garlic, minced
2 cups broth (see above)
1/2 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
1 tomato, diced
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp grated Parmesan
6 large leaves basil, torn
salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat oil in a medium saucepan. Saute shallot and garlic until soft.
2. Add in zucchini and saute over medium low heat until zucchini is sweating, softening (you may want to add a tiny bit of salt to help it out), and lightly golden, about 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, simmer the broth in a small sauce pan.
4. Melt 1 tbsp butter into the zucchini. Stir. Add in rice and coat with butter.
5. Add the wine and let it evaporate, stirring. Stir in the tomato.
6. Add in one ladle of broth, stirring. Let the broth absorb before adding another ladleful. Continue adding broth and stirring until the rice tastes done.
7. Remove from heat. Stir in 1 tbsp butter and Parmesan cheese. Stir until butter is melted.
8. Cover and let sit for a couple of minutes.
9. Top with torn basil and serve. Salt and pepper to taste.