Roasted Vegetable Risotto

November RecipeSpinoff community, grateful for the belonging, writing about gratitude and food and the particular thankfulness of a woman who has two books and a grandson and a blog and a kitchen. The week was the life. The life was the cooking. The cooking was the love. And the love was the week, and the week was one of the weeks that stack together to become the years, and the years become the life, and the life is the woman at the stove who cooks and writes and loves and does not stop.

I made she-crab soup on Sunday — the anchor, the constant, the practice. The soup was perfect. The perfection was the practice. And the practice continues, one Sunday at a time, one bowl at a time, one life at a time, the woman stirring, the roux thickening, the kitchen warm, the family fed, the love alive.

The she-crab soup is the anchor, yes — but what I love about a Sunday kitchen is that one warm, stirred thing leads to another, and this roasted vegetable risotto has become its companion on the weeks when I want to feed a table that deserves more than one bowl of love. There is something about standing at the stove and adding ladleful after ladleful of broth — patient, unhurried, present — that feels exactly like the life I described above: slow and deliberate and full. If you are a woman with a kitchen and people to feed and reasons to be grateful, this is the recipe for a Sunday like that.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 medium zucchini, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 yellow squash, diced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Salt and black pepper, to taste
1 small yellow onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
5 cups low-sodium vegetable broth, warmed
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Instructions

Roast the vegetables. Preheat oven to 425°F. Toss zucchini, bell pepper, squash, and cherry tomatoes with 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread on a rimmed baking sheet in a single layer and roast 20–25 minutes, until tender and lightly caramelized at the edges. Set aside.
Warm the broth. Pour vegetable broth into a small saucepan over low heat. Keep it warm throughout cooking — cold broth will seize the rice and break the creaminess you’re building.
Sauté the aromatics. In a large, heavy-bottomed skillet or Dutch oven, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook 4–5 minutes until softened and translucent. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more, stirring frequently.
Toast the rice. Add the Arborio rice to the pan and stir to coat it in the oil. Cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until the edges of the grains turn slightly translucent. This step builds the nutty base of the dish.
Deglaze with wine. Pour in the white wine and stir until it is fully absorbed, about 1–2 minutes.
Add broth gradually. Add 1/2 cup of the warm broth to the rice, stirring gently and consistently until absorbed. Continue adding broth, 1/2 cup at a time, waiting for each addition to be absorbed before adding the next. This process will take 20–25 minutes total. The rice should be creamy and just barely al dente when all broth is incorporated.
Finish the risotto. Remove pan from heat. Stir in butter and Parmesan cheese until melted and fully incorporated. Fold in the roasted vegetables, fresh parsley, and thyme. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
Serve immediately. Spoon into warm bowls. Finish with an extra sprinkle of Parmesan and a few parsley leaves if desired. Risotto waits for no one — bring it to the table while it’s alive.

Nutrition (per serving)

Roasted Vegetable Risotto — The Sunday Anchor That Feeds the Soul