Risotto Primavera

I love risotto. And I love primavera dishes: pasta, pizza, lasagna. This recipe can be whipped up pretty quickly (for risotto) and you can pack it with whatever veggies you can find. A perfect go-to dish when you want to feed your kids veggies. So creamy, flavorful and utterly good.

Risotto Primavera
Serves 8

Ingredients
5 cans low sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
½ whole large yellow onion, finely diced
3 whole carrots, peeled and finely diced
½ cups cauliflower pieces
½ cups broccoli pieces
1 whole yellow squash, finely diced
½ teaspoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon olive oil (additional)
1 tablespoon butter (additional)
1-½ cup Arborio rice
1-½ cup dry white wine
1½ teaspoon kosher salt (additional), more to taste
½ cups frozen peas
4 ounces, weight cream cheese cheese
½ cups grated Parmesan cheese
Optional vegetables to substitute: mushrooms, red bell pepper, zucchini, asparagus pieces

Directions
Pour chicken broth into a small saucepan. Heat to a simmer.

In a large Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter. Add diced onions and diced carrots. Stir and cook for a minute or two. Add cauliflower and cook for a minute. Add broccoli and cook for 30 seconds. Add squash and cook for 30 seconds. Sprinkle in salt and stir. Remove from pan and put on a plate. Set aside.

Add 1 tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter to the same pan. Heat over medium-low heat. Add rice and stir, cooking for 1 minute. Add half the wine and 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt. Stir and cook until liquid is absorbed. Over the next 30 to 45 minutes, add 1 cup of simmering broth at a time, stirring and cooking until each addition of broth has absorbed. Add other half of wine and cook until absorbed. Add peas, stirring to combine. Taste to make sure rice is the right texture; add another helping of broth if rice has too much bite to it. Check salt content and add more salt if necessary.

Once rice is cooked, remove from heat. Stir in cream cheese, Parmesan, and vegetables until all cream cheese is combined.