It’s Wednesday night, and if all goes well, this post will go live on Friday. I’m leaving for San Diego early tomorrow morning for another work conference and thought I’d see how the scheduled post function works! Hopefully by the time you’re reading this, I’ll be all done with my talk and relaxing by the pool! I’m very excited that I’ll get to see two of my very good friends who live in San Diego, and of course, I’m already looking forward to our meals together at their favorite restaurants. I’m not even entirely dreading the long flight because I know I’ll be fairly well entertained between the TVs on JetBlue and the two new foodie books I got from the library (Spiced and The Omnivore’s Dilemma).
I’ve been meaning to post this risotto recipe for awhile now. My hubby said it was one of the best dishes I’ve ever made! We have a little rating system for my blog. Both my hubby and I give every recipe a score, and only those that receive an 8 or above from both of us are posted. And believe me, he’s a tough critic! There are several recipes that he’s given a 5 or 6 that I’ve had to go back and rework before posting. Sometimes he’ll tell me specific ingredients he thinks should be added or subtracted (“mushrooms, it needs mushrooms” or “way too much lime juice”) and sometimes his comments are more general and less helpful (“it’s ok, but nothing special”). I love his honest feedback though, and I think he truly enjoys being quality control. He gave this risotto a 9.5, which is very high for him. This is the kind of dish that we fight over who gets to take the leftovers to work. My favorite part is that it tastes completely indulgent and bad for you, but really isn’t too naughty.
I’ve professed my love of goat cheese before, and knew it would be lovely in a creamy risotto. I added a base layer of flavor with shallots and garlic, and then stuffed it full of zucchini and yellow squash. It’s the perfect summer risotto, and one that I’ll definitely be making again. Ok, off to pack!
Goat Cheese Risotto with Yellow Squash and Zucchini
Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 yellow squashes, chopped
2 zucchinis, chopped
1 tablespoon butter
3/4 cup chopped shallots
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup Arborio rice
4 cups chicken stock
4 ounces goat cheese
1 teaspoon salt
Directions:
Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large pan and sauté squash and zucchini until tender, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
Meanwhile, melt butter over medium-high heat in a large stockpot. Sauté the shallots for 5 to 7 minutes or until tender; add garlic and sauté for an additional minute. Add the rice and stir until well-coated and translucent. Reduce heat to medium and stir in 1 cup of chicken stock. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the stock has been absorbed; add another cup and continue in this way until all the chicken stock has been absorbed, for about 30 minutes. Stir in the goat cheese and salt and simmer an additional 5 minutes or until desired consistency is reached. Stir in squash and zucchini. Makes 4 servings.
Nutrition: 355 calories, 13g fat, 2.9g fiber, 11.9g protein per serving
Cost: $2.64 per serving
Sounds great! Have a fun trip! I love that you and your husband have a rating system for your blog. That is too cute!
Oh this sounds wonderful. I am definitely going to bookmark this for the farmers market vegetables ..
A goat cheese risotto sounds delicious! Have a fun trip!
This looks so delicious! I love yellow squash and zucchini. The rating system is such a great idea. My husband gives me similar critiques, but putting a number on it would really help, especially with comparing recipes. Are you by chance at ATS? My boss and our fellow are going there today, and it’s in San Diego. Hope your talk went/goes well!!!
I have one of those hubbies too – or the opposite sometimes, wants to take a picture of a sandwich I made him for lunch!
I love your risotto, have a great time!
goat cheese IS perfect in risotto!!!! this looks awesome, and i love your critic
i need to find me one 😉 Hope you’re enjoying San Diego and the talk goes well!
You had me at goat cheese.
Looks great! Hope you enjoy your time in SD.
I am right there with Elly – I was immediately hooked when I saw “goat cheese” and “risotto” in the same sentance!
Wow, after the hubby’s compliments about this dish, I can’t wait to try it. It certainly looks delicious. I hope that you’re having a wonderful time in San Diego!! Enjoy seeing your friends and getting to eat at all of your favorite restaurants. Sorry that I’ve been an absent commenter; I just finished up my law school exams and am finally getting around to my google reader.
OOH Kerstin, this risotto looks so lovely & delicious! great colours too! Yummie!
Such a gorgeous dish!! Mmmm, I adore goat cheese… I can’t wait to try this recipe, especially since it’s one of your husband’s favorites!
Your rating system made me smile, because Zach and I have a similar system… 
*giggles* It’s always wonderful to have a helpful taste tester! 
Have an awesome trip!!
I can’t wait to try this!
It looks so rich, creamy and delicious. I love that you added goat cheese.
I love risotto, I bet the goat cheese makes this very creamy.
This looks so good. I love all the colors!
OMG. That sounds amazing. Goat cheese heaven. 😛
I like the rating system idea! My husband would eat a cardboard box if I set it in front of him though, so I don’t know how much help he would be. Have a safe trip!
Hey thanks for visiting my blog. Goat cheese is one of my favorite things…yummy
Have a good flight! This looks so creamy, no wonder he gave it 9!
Oh my goodness, Kerstin, I soooo understand the husband quality control thing! Sometimes fun, but other times annoying, yes?! But this risotto looks gorgeous, and I am sure delicious. I [heart] goat cheese!
I would love to try your goat cheese risotto recipe… any chance to change the goat cheese with other cheese and still with the same yummy result as yours? I hardly see goat cheese here in Jakarta.
I don’t know how I missed this post! I hope you had a good trip! I like how you and your husband rate dishes. This does look very delicious!! It’s a ten from here!!
Meghan – Yes, I just got back from ATS! Maybe we’ll be able to meet at a conference at some point
Natashya – I came home and he had taken a picture of one of his standard dishes he makes all the time while I was gone and told me he wants to do a guest blog post about it – lol. I told him he actually has to write up the recipe then, which he grumbled about.
Astra Libris and Camilla – He is usually a helpful taste taster….
I do have to occasionally just trust my palate though because he likes things very spicy!
Selba – Hmm, I’m a little stumped because I honestly love goat cheese so much that I haven’t played around with other types of similar cheese. If anyone else has suggestions, I’d love to hear them too!
[…] this week since he was such a good sport about being my tech support.I finally settled on this risotto, since he always drools over it (he affectionately calls it his crack risotto), but decided to mix […]