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Fresh corn gives risotto a summer vibe

Recipe: Main dish or side dish is worth the time

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Kathy Morrison PUBLISHED JUN 28, 2026

A risotto dish just for summer features fresh corn, plus Parmesan, lime juice and green onions. Kathy Morrison

When fresh corn is plentiful and the early summer weather is cooperating, I make corn risotto. It's something of a tradition. It takes more time than grilling or microwaving the corn, but oh is it delicious.

Ingredients for risotto — Beautiful fresh corn is the star of the risotto.

The recipe I adapted originally appeared in Sunset magazine in 1994, and originated at the long-gone restaurant called Moose's in San Francisco.

I had a full house back in those days, so upped the amounts. As written here, the risotto makes 4 main course servings or 6 to 8 side servings.

Don't skip the lime juice or the Parmesan -- they're essential components. If I really feel fancy, I cook some bacon slices and top the risotto with those.

Fresh tomatoes, sliced, are the only other accompaniment needed.

Fresh corn risotto

Serves 4 as a main course, 6-8 as a side

Ingredients:

3 plump ears fresh corn

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

2 tablespoons water

2 cups chopped sweet white onion, divided

1-1/2 cups arborio rice

5 to 6 cups homemade vegetable broth or commercial "no-chicken" broth

Juice from 2 large limes, divided

2 tablespoons chopped green onion tops or chives

Finely shaved Parmesan cheese

Salt and ground black pepper

Instructions:

Stripping kernels — Cut the kernels from the cob into a bowl.

Husk, de-silk and rinse the ears of corn. Hold one ear inside a large bowl and cut the kernels off with a sharp knife. (I do half the ear first, then flip it over – easier to hold onto.) Repeat with the other 2 ears. Set the bowl aside for now.

In a large saucepan or skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add the water and half the chopped onion and sauté, adding a touch of salt while stirring. Once the onion is just tender, add the rice and stir for a few minutes.

Stir in the vegetable broth until it is absorbed by the rice: Turn the heat up to medium-high and begin adding the broth, 1 cup at a time, stirring until it is absorbed before adding more. Continue this process until the rice is cooked al dente (be sure to test it); you may not use all the broth.

Near the end of this process (the last 5 to 10 minutes), stir in the rest of the onion and half the lime juice. After a minute, stir in the corn kernels and continue to cook until corn is barely tender.

Remove the risotto from the heat and taste for seasoning; add salt and black pepper to taste.

Serve in bowls, garnished with a sprinkle of the remaining lime juice, the chopped green onions and Parmesan shavings.

Need a recipe for vegetable broth? Check out ours:

Vegetable broth recipe here

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RECIPE

A recipe for preparing delicious meals from the bounty of the garden.

Keywords:

recipes recipes corn risotto summer vegetables seasonal cooking main dish summer July Sacramento gardening

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Garden checklist for week of July 19

Remember to water early and deeply; your garden depends on you.

* It’s not too late to add a splash of color. Plant petunias, snapdragons, zinnias and marigolds.

* From seed, plant corn, pumpkins, radishes, winter squash and sunflowers.

* Keep your vegetable garden watered, mulched and weeded. Water before 8 a.m. to reduce the chance of fungal infection and to conserve moisture.

* Water, then fertilize vegetables and blooming annuals, perennials and shrubs to give them a boost.

*Fertilizing flowering plants every other week will extend their bloom. Give vegetable plants bone meal or other fertilizers high in phosphate to stimulate more blooms and fruiting.

* Don’t let tomatoes wilt or dry out completely. Give tomatoes a deep watering two to three times a week. Harvest vegetables promptly to encourage plants to produce more. Squash especially tends to grow rapidly in hot weather. Keep an eye on zucchini.

* If your melons and squash aren’t setting fruit, give the bees a hand. With a small, soft paintbrush, gather some pollen from male flowers, then brush it inside the female flowers, which have a tiny swelling at the base of their petals. (That's the embryo melon or squash.) Within days, that little swelling should start growing.

* Pinch back chrysanthemums for bushy plants and more flowers in September.

* Remove spent flowers from roses, daylilies and other bloomers as they finish flowering.

* Pinch off blooms from basil so the plant will grow more leaves. New leaves have the best flavor.

* Cut back lavender after flowering to promote a second bloom.

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