Risotto-Stuffed Zucchini Boats (A GF Kitchen Adventure)

I've never been very good about eating my vegetables.  I know they're important, and I try to be diligent about eating them, but I often end up with a giant bowl of gf macaroni and cheese instead.

Recently, when I started seeing recipes for zucchini boats all over the internet, I tried a sausage stuffed zucchini boat recipe from Skinny Taste.  I thought it was a pretty tasty and inventive way to eat a sizable serving of veggies.

All the recipes I've seen for zucchini boats include some sort of tomato sauce, though, and I'd take a cheese sauce over a tomato sauce any day of the week.  That's why I decided to try filling a zucchini boat with risotto!

Ingredients:
1 large zucchini
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup chopped onion
2 cloves minced garlic
A dash or two of salt and pepper
3/4 cup arborio rice
2 cups chicken broth
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:
1.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees f.
2.  Slice the zucchini lengthwise and scoop out its insides to make 2 boats with 1/4 inch thick walls.  Place the boats on a cookie sheet and set it aside for later.
3.  Pour the olive oil into a pan over medium heat.
4.  Add the onions to the pan and let them cook for 2 minutes.
5.  Add the garlic and the salt and pepper and cook for 1 more minute.
6.  Add the rice and stir it so it becomes coated in the olive oil.  Cook it for 3 minutes. stirring occasionally.
7.  Add the chicken broth, turn up the heat, and bring it to a boil.
8.  Once the broth begins to boil, pour the contents of the pan into the zucchini boats, making sure to have the same rice to liquid ratio in both boats.
9.  Cover the boats with tin foil and bake them for 20 minutes.
10.  Remove the boats from the oven and carefully stir most of the cheese into the risotto in the boats.  Re-cover them and return them to the oven for 5 more minutes.
11.  Take them out of the oven, top each boat with the remainder of the grated cheese and serve.

I think this recipe was a success and I'll totally make it again.

I will admit, however, that about 2/3 of the way through my boat, when I started to feel full, the non-vegetable-eater in me came out and I ditched the boat and just ate the risotto.  Old habits die hard, I guess..

Happy cooking!
xoxo
Laura