Zucchini Risotto with Goat Cheese and Prosciutto -- Learning to Stand at the Stove

March comes in gray and damp this year, the kind that makes staying inside feel like a reasonable life choice. The azaleas are a week away from blooming and the air smells like something is about to happen. Spring in Alabama is always imminent before it is actual.

I finished the spring semester well. Final grades are not posted yet but I know from the papers and exams that I did well. Two classes while working full-time, and I managed both, and neither was done carelessly. I am learning the shape of what I can carry.

This week I tried to make roux from scratch for the first time, just the roux itself as practice, because you need roux for gumbo and I want to make gumbo eventually. Roux is flour and fat cooked together over heat until they reach the color and depth you want. A dark roux, the kind you need for a gumbo, takes thirty to forty-five minutes of constant stirring. You cannot leave it. You cannot rush it. You stand at the stove and stir and watch the color change from pale to blonde to the color of peanut butter to the color of milk chocolate to, if you go far enough, the color of dark chocolate.

I burned my first attempt. Walked away for sixty seconds and came back to something scorched. Second attempt I did not leave the stove. I stood there for forty minutes with a wooden spoon. The roux came out the color of milk chocolate, which is where I stopped. The apartment smelled nutty and rich and nothing like a house fire, which was my primary concern.

Told Gloria on Sunday. She said: now you are ready for gumbo. Not yet. Soon.

Gloria told me I was ready for gumbo, and maybe she’s right — but I wanted one more lesson in staying put before I got there. Risotto is not gumbo, but it asks the same thing of you: a wooden spoon, a hot pan, and the willingness to not walk away. After standing at that stove for forty minutes with the roux, I figured I had earned the right to try something that rewards that same kind of attention. Zucchini risotto with goat cheese and prosciutto felt like exactly the right bridge — rich and careful and worth every minute.

Zucchini Risotto with Goat Cheese and Prosciutto

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 35 minutes | Total Time: 45 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
• 2 medium zucchini, diced small
• 3 oz prosciutto, torn into pieces
• 3 oz goat cheese, crumbled
• 1 small yellow onion, finely diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 5 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth, kept warm
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• Fresh basil or flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

Instructions

1. Warm the broth. Pour broth into a small saucepan over low heat. Keep it at a bare simmer throughout cooking — adding cold broth to the risotto will slow the process and affect the texture.
2. Sauté aromatics. In a wide, heavy-bottomed pan or Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring often, until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more.
3. Toast the rice. Add Arborio rice to the pan and stir to coat in the oil. Toast for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until the edges of the grains look slightly translucent.
4. Deglaze. Pour in the white wine and stir until fully absorbed, about 2 minutes.
5. Add broth gradually. Add warm broth one ladleful (about 1/2 cup) at a time, stirring constantly and waiting until each addition is fully absorbed before adding the next. Continue this process for 20—25 minutes, until the rice is creamy and cooked through with just a slight bite at the center.
6. Cook the zucchini. While the risotto is in its final 10 minutes, heat a separate skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon butter and sauté diced zucchini until golden at the edges, about 4—5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
7. Finish the risotto. Remove the pan from heat. Stir in remaining 1 tablespoon butter, Parmesan, and half the goat cheese. Fold in the sautéed zucchini.
8. Plate and garnish. Spoon into bowls. Top each serving with prosciutto pieces, remaining crumbled goat cheese, and fresh herbs. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 480 | Protein: 18g | Fat: 18g | Carbs: 58g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 720mg