Quick & Easy Instant Pot Spring/Summer Risotto

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“Ready to make your choice of Risotto?”

Don’t you just love a simple creamy risotto? You’re going to love this light and tasty version I whipped up in my Instant Pot last week in a matter of minutes. Yep, no constant stirring.  

Summer Time Risotto – Lemon Zest, Summer Squash Shredded, Fresh Herbs of choice, Freshly Grated Pecorino Cheese, good quality bone or chicken broth, dry white wine (optional)

The best part about this recipe is you get to play with the veggies.  I’ve made it twice so far. One with fresh spring peas and this “time” with summer squash…hence the title of my post.  Spring or Summer Time Creamy Risotto.  Clever I know?.

Risotto is usually considered a “high maintenance” food to make.  “Did you know the Instant Pot simplifies the entire risotto making process with just the press of a button (and a bit of sautéing in the beginning)?”  Yes that’s right!  Risotto can be made in 10 minutes, from start to finish–it’s really quite impressive.  Perfect and elegant for entertaining ?.

Once you do a quick release after only 6 minutes, gently stir in your shredded summer squash, or peas, or try Asparagus!

Although this Risotto is called Spring or Summer, you could easily make this year round.  Most likely you have peas stashed in your freezer plus fresh lemons and summer squash are available all year round, so can you imagine how awesome this would taste in the middle of the winter!

I don’t know about you, but my weeks are incredibly busy so I try my best to plan ahead and I’ve been learning to use a couple of appliances that allow me to spend less time in the kitchen during the week: my Instant Pot, and my VitaMix.

Creamy and Delicious and in less than 10 minutes

By now you are familiar with my love of smoothies.  My VitaMix gets used every morning and sometimes even twice a day.  Smoothies are my breakfast of choice almost every morning because they’re just so simple and easy to customize not to mention perfect for after my workout!.  My morning smoothies are often times paired with bullet proof coffee since I wait to have caffeine till after my run and workout.

Serve with a simple salad plus a runny egg if you must:-)

Some mornings I have this energizing green tea instead of coffee.  This is one of my most favorite smoothies using Matcha Green Tea.  If you haven’t tried it, I highly recommend.  There are many reasons I choose Shaklee Products, but the biggest reason is, I know they are safe and clean.

Smoothies only take a few minutes to make, at the most, and can be made with as many, or as a few, nourishing ingredients as desired.  I look forward to them every morning!

Want more Protein? Add a runny egg of course!

I am definitley falling in love with my Instant Pot. Today’s recipe is incredibly delicious…so much so, as I was putting left-overs in a container, it was one spoonful in and one spoonful in my mouth.  I think I had at least two helpings.  One sitting and one standing?.  The good news, I still had enough leftover to make a batch of Risotto Arancini and I can’t wait to share them with you!  Just another reason you need to subscribe to my blog ?

QUCIK AND EASY SPRING/SUMMER RISOTTO

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 1/2 cups arborio rice
  • 1/2 cup of dry white wine
  • 2 1/2 cups bone broth or good quality chicken broth
  • 1 tablespoon Coconut Ghee or butter
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 
  • 1 small white onion chopped fine
  • 2 medium garlic cloves minced
  • 1 tablespoon of fresh herbs, I used basil
  • 1 teaspoon of pink Himalayan Sea Salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper 
  • 1 lemon zested, about 1 tablespoon zest
  • 1 cup of shredded summer squash
  • 1/2 cup grated pecorino or parmesan cheese 

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Set the Instant Pot to Saute.

  2. Once hot, add the ghee and olive oil.  Add your diced onion and sauté for about 5 minutes.

  3. Rinse the rice and gently shake it dry; carefully add the rice to the Instant Pot along with the garlic.  Sauté the rice and garlic with the onion (in the ghee and olive oil) for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

  4. Add the broth, basil, salt, pepper, and lemon zest (you don’t need the juice, just the zest for this recipe). Stir to combine the ingredients.

  5. Set the lid vent to sealing, then cook on Manual High Pressure for 6 minutes.

  6. Carefully perform a quick release of the pressure when cooking is done (use a towel or oven mitt to do this so you don’t burn your hand).

  7. Stir in your veggie of choice (summer squash, peas, asparagus or even fresh mushrooms) and pecorino cheese (or parm), and taste for seasoning (adding more salt and/or pepper, as desired). You might still see liquid on the rice, but it should stir in.

  8. Add more broth if the risotto is too dry for your liking, or sauté for a bit if the risotto is too wet. Serve warm.

Recipe Notes

*Fresh summer peas are sweeter than most others, but any bag of frozen peas will work well.

**You can never add enough cheese to risotto, in my opinion. So feel free to add more to taste.

***I love brown rice and advocate whole foods whenever possible but white rice is easier to digest so it’s my preference the night before a longer run.

[reminder]Do you own a Instant Pot? If so, what is your favorite recipe? [/reminder]

Ready to make your choice of Risotto?


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