A Humble Risotto

Summer is approaching and the best thing to do to celebrate it is to use the best of summer vegetables. In this recipe I gave the humble risotto a lift by using a winning combination of tomato and basil. I slow-roasted the tomatoes in the oven to bring out the intense flavour and served it with some fresh and crunchy salad to balance the creaminess of the risotto. We invited one of our friends for dinner and served this risotto. It got good feedback from her -coincidently she's a vegetarian. But I think this risotto is good enough to serve to carnivores and it might change their mind about meat-free food.

Tomato and Basil Risotto with a Crunchy Salad

Serves 2

Ingredients:

200g arborio rice

10 cherry tomatoes, halved

1 tbs olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

a sprig fresh thyme, chopped

1/2 red or yellow pepper, sliced

1/3 courgette, sliced

1 cube vegetable stock diluted in 500ml boiling water

1 tbs crème fraiche 

75g cheddar cheese, grated

a handful fresh basil, roughly chopped

salt and pepper

For the salad:

5 radishes, thinly sliced

2 black or green olives, chopped

a handful salad cress

1 tbs sunflower seeds, dry roasted on a frying pan

1 tsp virgin olive oil

3 drops sesame or walnut oil

1 tsp lemon juice

salt and pepper

Start by preheating the oven to 140C, then arrange the halved tomatoes on a roasting tray, sprinkle with a teaspoon of caster sugar, season with salt and pepper and roast in the preheated oven for about 30-45 minutes. 


While the tomatoes are in the oven you can start preparing the ingredients for  the salad. For the salad dressing, in a bowl whisk the virgin olive oil, sesame oil, lemon juice, season with salt and pepper and set aside. 


For the risotto, heat the olive oil in a deep frying pan, add the onion and sweat until translucent. Add the garlic and thyme and continue cooking until fragrant, then add the rice, pepper and courgette and stir until all the rice is well covered with the oil. Keep stirring while adding ladlefuls of stock from time to time to the rice for about 15 minutes. Taste the rice for seasoning and texture, the rice should be 'al dente' soft on the outside but still has a bite in the middle. If you run out of stock before the rice is cooked, add some boiling water. 


Once the rice is cooked, add the slow roasted tomatoes, fresh basil, crème fraiche and grated cheddar into the pan and stir well. Turn the heat off and put the lid on the pan and let the risotto rest for 2 minutes. 


Meanwhile prepare the salad by tossing the radishes, salad cress, toasted sunflower seeds and chopped olives in a bowl with the dressing that you prepared earlier. Serve the risotto on a warm plate with a handful of the crunchy salad on top.