Kevin West’s Green Bean Risotto

We’ve asked Troy Chatterton of the newly opened East Village cookbook store Wild Sorrel to share recipes from his favorite books and recent releases on a rolling basis. This week, he picked this green bean risotto from Kevin West’s 2025 bible A Cook’s Garden, just in time for the start of harvest season.

As Kevin West explains it, “the old-time phrase ‘cooking from the garden’ didn’t necessarily mean you grew everything you ate. It meant you brought to the table the flavors of the season. You ate what was best at the moment.” For those of us who do not have gardens, we are fortunate to have farmers’ markets which are the next best thing to growing and picking your own. Some would say, even better. Green beans represent the height of summer to me and nothing is more relaxing than sitting at the table snapping beans with a friend or listening to the radio in preparation for dinner. Kevin’s essential gardening guide The Cook’s Garden is full of inspired dishes from the garden like this delicious green bean risotto. My one bit of advice when choosing your beans at the market is one by one!

Kevin West

Green Bean Risotto

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Servings: 6 servings

Course: Side Dish

The carcass of a roast chicken, stripped clean after a meal, is good for about 1 quart of stock. In my kitchen, stock signals risotto, and risotto is a year-round vehicle for garden vegetables. This version uses green beans (fresh or frozen). In other seasons you can substitute peas, zucchini, or celery (see how to adjust below). If you stir in what appears to be an excess of butter and the tangiest, oldest Parmesan you can find, you’ll have it about right. For a vegetarian version, cook the rice in vegetable stock or even plain salted water. About salt: Remember that a meaningful quantity of salt might be hidden in the stock—or might be lacking from it altogether. My homemade stock has about 1 teaspoon fine sea salt per quart. If you use unsalted stock (or plain water), add extra salt when you bring the stock to a boil.

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 1 quart stock
• Fine sea salt
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion finely diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 2 cups Arborio rice
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 12 ounces green beans thinly sliced on the bias (about 4 cups)
• 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese grated (about 1 1/3 cups), plus more for serving
• 1 cup pesto
• Freshly ground black pepper

Method

 

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the stock, 4 cups water, and 1 teaspoon salt. (If using unsalted stock or all water, add an additional 1 teaspoon salt.) Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a bare simmer.
2. In a very large straight-sided pan or a 6-quart Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat until it shimmers. Add the onion and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook gently, stirring constantly, until the onion is softened but not browned, about 5 minutes.
3. Set a kitchen timer to 30 minutes. Add the rice to the onion and cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. Add the wine and stir until evaporated, a couple of minutes. Increase the heat to medium-high. Add a ladleful of stock—I use a 3/4-cup ladle—and keep stirring. Adjust the heat as needed to maintain a gentle but steady boil. Once the liquid is fully absorbed, add another ladle of stock, continuing to stir and shake until the stock is absorbed. Each addition of stock should take several minutes.
4. When 15 minutes remain on the timer, add the beans. Keep adding stock and stirring it in. Take care to turn the beans under as you go to prevent them from riding to the top.
5. When 5 minutes remain, stir in the parsley. When the timer sounds (30 minutes after first adding the rice to the pan), the risotto should be ready—with a firm but not chalky center.
6. Remove from the heat. Stir in the butter and Parmigiano until melted. Taste and add another 1/4 teaspoon salt only if needed. The finished risotto should be suave, on the loose side. If it stiffens, stir in the last of the hot stock or a splash of boiling water to loosen it.
7. Divide the risotto among warm dishes—I like it spread on a plate. Top with a generous dollop of pesto and serve with extra grated Parmesan and the remaining pesto to pass. Garnish with freshly ground black pepper, to taste.

Notes

To adapt for peas, zucchini, winter squash: Replace the beans with an equal volume of shelled peas, 1/2-inch diced zucchini, or 3/4-inch diced winter squash that has been steamed or blanched for 5 minutes and drained. Omit the basil pesto or substitute another pesto or herb sauce.

To adapt for celery: Celery makes my favorite vegetable risotto. Use 2 cups of celery cut into 1/4-inch dice. Add half to the pan when you sauté the onion and half when you would have added the beans. Include some of the fragrant chopped leaves with the second addition. Add more chopped leaves with the parsley in step 5.

Recipe from The Cook’s Garden © 2025 by Kevin West. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.