i love risotto, and this was a very good flavor combination! but 1/2 of a zucchini is definitely not enough!! i used a whole zucchini plus some yellow squash. i added the sun dried tomatoes about half way through cooking so that they would flavor the rice more. i also doubled the cheese (i used freshly shaved asiago) because I love cheese :) but it tasted pretty flavorful before i added the cheese, so you can definitely leave out the cheese or use less if you are trying to reduce fat. i made this today for my mom's birthday and she loved it!
risotto is intimidating because of all of the stirring. As much as I cook, I still cannot get rice to work, so how was I going to make something as complicated as risotto? Thanks to this recipe (my inaugural attempt), my risotto was wonderful. Being a WeightWatcher girl, I did not add the parmesan cheese to the top (didn't miss it) and added lots of veggies. I too rough chopped my zucchini, and added chopped fresh broccoli and sweet peas (at the very end). I'd recommend carrots too.
One happy note: I did not "stir continuously". Instead I used a very good pot and stirred "quite often", until the end. When the mixture thickened, I "stirred continuously" and voila! No blob.
Thanks for the great recipe.
This was my first risotto attempt and it worked out pretty well. I was cooking for 2 so I scaled back the ingredients as follows(which made enough for 3):
4 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup rice
1/2 sweet onion chopped
2 small carrots chopped
5 sun dried tomatoes (used the kind packed in oil)
1 zucchini chopped
1 tablespoon dried thyme
3 tablespoons fresh grated parmesan
~ 12 small basil leaves sliced width-wise
I sauteed the carrots and onions together first, then added the rice and followed the rest of the recipe as instructed. Carrots sweeted it up a bit and the basil should not be skipped - it added a really nice flavor. With constant stirring over medium heat, the risotto probably took about 30 minutes total to cook. My fiance liked it and I enjoyed the leftovers for lunch the next day. I will make this again!
Loved this recipe!! I followed directions exactly; but used 1/2 teaspoon dried basil since I did not have fresh. Is definitely a keeper!! Thanks for the recipe.
This was an excellent recipe. The flavor was perfect. The only changes I made were to add 5 or 6 leaves of fresh basil I used an entire zucchini instead of half marinated sun dried tomatoes and I used more parm. Oh and freshly ground pepper. Yum!
This was the best side dish I've made in a long time! I substitued 1 cup of low sodium broth with 1 cup of a dry white wine which added a lot of flavor. I used dried thyme and basil and didn't miss the fresh herb taste. This recipe is a keeper!
We really enjoyed this! A veggie dish that doesn't taste like it's missing meat at all. I doubled the onion zucchini and sundried tomatoes and added a little garlic. It was nowhere near bland despite the fact that I forgot to add the thyme completely. My sundried tomatoes were marinated with herbs and that more than a made up for the lack of thyme. I like my veggies chunky and crunchy so I cut the zucchini into bigger bits but I may slice them thinner next time as the recipe suggest as my boyfriend said the chunks reminded him of his childhood when he didn't like zucchini as a side dish. Fair enough. Will definitely make this healthy feeling and delicious risotto again.
WOW! I love risotti but I never thought of using sun-dried tomatoes in them! They really give a special kick to this creamy dish. I used feta because I had some that would have gone bad otherwise but I'm sure it's great with parmesan too. And I also like the fact that you can play on the zucchini/rice ratio to make it an healthier dish.
Absolutely fantastic - the whole family and guest wanted more!!!
This was quite labor-intensive to make and the flavor was lacking. As a full-time working mother and wife, I need recipes that are healthy, delicious and quick - this is not one of them. I love risotto and was hoping this would turn out well, but it's in desperate need of garlic salt and something else. Not a big fan of the addition of the thyme, and I usually like thyme. Definitely will not make this again. Only reason hubby and I ate it was because we can't stand to waste food.
