How To make Roomie's Sunday Dinner Zucchini Delight

Courgette & Mushroom Risotto with Truffle | Cook-Along

It's Time to Cook!

Make sure you have all the equipment and ingredients out and in the right quantities, where applicable – you can refer back to the Intro & Ingredients video description for a list of everything you'll need:

Risotto is very much a stand-at-the-stove-and-stir-constantly dish – perfect for enjoying our scintillating chat (which mainly just involves repeating the word gloopy), and sipping at the remainder of your cooking wine :)

See below for the written method and for India's shoutouts/recommendations.

Enjoy and let us know how it turns out!
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METHOD
1. Heat about 1/2 tbsp truffle oil and 1/2 tbsp olive oil (or just 1 tbsp olive oil if not using truffle oil) in a large, heavy-based pan on a medium-high heat.
2. Peel and remove the woody end of two garlic cloves. Once the oil is hot, add the whole garlic cloves to the pan and gently fry for about 3-5 minutes until slightly soft.
3. Meanwhile, clean and slice 200 g brown mushrooms and finely slice as much fresh/pickled truffle as you want to use (India uses about half a pickled truffle).
4. Remove the garlic cloves from the pan and keep to one side. Add the truffle and mushrooms to the same pan and stir to coat in oil. Fry until the mushrooms have released all their liquid and most of this liquid has evaporated (approx. 10 minutes).
5. Meanwhile, wash and top/tail your 1 large (or 2 smaller) courgettes/zucchinis and cut into bite-sized chunks (depending on the size, this will either be half or quartered chunks).
5. Once the mushrooms are ready, add 1 cup risotto (arborio) rice and a little more oil (truffle or olive) if the pan is too dry. Stir it all around and make sure the rice grains are all coated in oil. Toast the rice in the pan for a couple of minutes.
6. Add about 1/4 cup white wine (or dry vermouth) to the hot pan and let the alcohol cook off for about a minute.
------- Now starts the water/stock-adding phase. You will use about 5 cups or 1.2 litres in total, but you add it bit by bit. India just uses water and simply adds the dried stock to the pan at some point in the process, but if you have liquid stock or want to make up 1.2 litres stock in advance, that also works fine. One thing to be aware of is that, if you're using truffle, you don't want as strong a stock flavour. So for 5 cups water, India uses just 3 teaspoons powdered stock (she uses chicken, but veggie would absolutely work too). If you're not using truffle, you will probably want to follow the suggested ratio of one heaped teaspoon to 1 cup (250 ml) water, so 5 teaspoons total for this dish. -------
7. Add just enough water/stock to cover the rice (roughly 1/3 cup), and stir fairly constantly until the water is absorbed. Repeat the process, adding a little water/stock at a time.
8. If you didn't finish chopping your courgette earlier, this would be the time to finish that now between stirs. This would also be a good time to grate a few handfuls of grana padano / parmesan in preparation.
8. Once India has added about 2 cups (500 ml) water, she adds the 3 teaspoons powdered stock and stirs to dissolve.
9. Once about 4 cups (1 litre) water has been added, this is the time to stir through the chopped courgette.
10. Once your full 5 cups of liquid has been added and the risotto has a good gloopy texture, test the rice to see if it's properly cooked. There should still be bite to it, but it should be cooked through and no longer have a chalky texture. If it's not quite there, add just a little more water.
11. Once the rice is ready, add 1/2 cup cream and most of your grated cheese, leaving some to sprinkle on top, stir well.
12. Crush/grate the pre-softened garlic cloves into the pan and stir through. You may also want to stir in a little butter or some extra truffle oil at this point.
13. Taste, season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve - drizzling with some more truffle oil, if you like, and sprinkling some of the remaining cheese on top.

Enjoy!

Special mentions/recommendations
BRÄUGIER craft brewery Berlin:
Mariona restaurant in Berlin:
Kokio Korean fried chicken in Berlin:
And Ikea... a lot

Other topics of conversation:
India's music! Follow her on Instagram @Indiarjewell

Zucchini Fritters & Buttered Zoodles

????????Buttered Zoodles????????
????Ingredients????
3 good sized zucchini, cut into noodles ????????????✂
2 tablespoons butter ????????
1 teaspoon granulated garlic ????
pinch of salt and pepper ????????
5-6 large fresh basil leaves, chopped ????????????????????????????
Parmesan cheese ????
Instructions:
1. In a large pan on medium-high heat, melt butter. Add zoodles, garlic, salt and pepper. Sauté for 2 minutes, tossing. Add fresh basil and cook for one more minute. Top with parmesan cheese to serve.

????Zucchini Fritters ????
????Ingredients????
3 large zucchini ????????????
3 cloves roasted garlic, minced or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder ????????????
1 egg ????
2 tablespoons mayo
1/3 cup flour (add more if mixture has too much liquid)
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese ????????
pinch of salt and pepper ????????
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
3-6 shakes of hot sauce, optional ????????????
oil for frying
????Instructions????
1️⃣. Using a box grater or food processor, grate zucchini into a towel or cheese cloth lined bowl. Sprinkle salt across top and let sit for 10 minutes. Bring edges of towel together and squeeze all liquid from the zucchini. Discard liquid (or use it in your Scrap Stock.)
2️⃣. In a large bowl, whisk together garlic, mayo and egg. Add zucchini, flour, parmesan cheese, paprika, hot sauce and pinch of salt and pepper. Stir until all ingredients are well incorporated. (Add more flour if necessary.)
3️⃣. *In a large skillet with medium high heat, add oil. When oil is hot, drop tablespoons of zucchini mixture into skillet, using back of spoon to flatten into round-ish shapes. Cook for 1-2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Drain on paper towel lined platter.

✴We also did this recipe in the air fryer - parchment paper would have helped with the fritters sticking.