Roasted pattypan and garlic risotto
It’s almost that time of year where all of my vegetables start cracking and splitting under the spank of too much hard rain, and I’ve been frantically harvesting all of the last of my pattypans and tomatoes before they become food for the gastropods. The tomatoes are now coming off the vine green, especially since I discovered that they, like baby okra, are fucking delicious pickled with garlic and chilis in a fiery curry brine (don’t worry, Cookie, I’ll show you soon). The squash, though, require a little more creativity.
Tonight I diced and roasted five or six of the baby pâtisson with some minced garlic in a hot oven until browned. Saute some minced onion (I had an Italian red torpedo that is shallot-like in appearance and flavor) and a handful of arborio rice in a nice big spoonful of duck fat. Proceed with normal risotto-making procedure until about 3 minutes to the end, when you add some slivered green beans (the hangers-on from a late bloom) and the roasted squash.
Finish by stirring in a few spoonfuls of leftover arugula-pumpkin seed pesto, and then swab another spoonful on top. Hit it with some Parm Redge and maybe a chiffonade of squash blossom if you’re feeling flirtatious. Enjoy with an acidic white – we have a Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi (Raphael 2007) that I’m really liking. Grassy, sprightly, with kefir lime and a little bee sting in the kisser.
