Risotto doesn’t need to be put away on the same box with your winter boots, during summer – especially when it pairs beautifully with peak-season tomatoes! Roasting the tomatoes – rather than cooking them straight in the pan together with the rice – concentrates the flavors and gives at this risotto its extraordinary depth.
Arborio Rice by Riso Scotti works just perfectly here – although the classic choice of Carnaroli would be a perfect substitution at a pinch.
RECIPE
Ingredients for 4 servings:
- 300g of cherry tomatoes
- 2 cloves of garlic, unpeeled and lightly smashed with the side of the knife
- 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- 20g of butter
- 1l of vegetable broth
- ½ small onion, finely chopped
- 360g of Arborio rice
- 100ml of white wine
- Salt
- Black Pepper
- 150g of Burrata Cheese
- 20g of basil leaves
Method
Preheat the oven at 200°C (fan on). Place the tomatoes and garlic on a baking sheet, add a pinch of salt and a generous twist of black pepper, a drizzle of olive oil (1 tablespoon) and toss to coat. Roast for about 30 minutes or until the tomatoes have collapsed and shrunk.
Remove the garlic skins then place the cloves, along with the roasted tomatoes, in a blender with a few tablespoons of vegetable broth and blend until smooth. Set aside and keep warm.
In a small pan, heat the butter, then add the onion and cook until its soft and translucent. In the meantime, in a separate medium saucepan, dry-roast the rice with no fat in the pan: it’s ready when the grains are hot to the touch and translucent. Add the wine and let evaporate.
Once the onion is ready, add it to the rice together with a ladleful of broth, then add the tomato purè, and cook, stirring regularly but not too vigorously, adding the broth, a ladleful at a time, whenever it evaporates.
Once the rice is cooked, let it cool slightly and then break apart a burrata on top of the risotto, still in the pan. Serve immediately – before the risotto cools and the Burrata heats up – with fresh basil leaves and another drizzle of oil.
