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Tomato & Basil Risotto

I made a promise on this one, so here’s my second recipe about risotto (check my eggplant and lemon risotto). And as tomatoes slowly disappear market stalls as winter is lurking around the corner, I want to share this risotto dish made with oven roasted tomato flesh and juice. The good news is while you can still buy those, you can roast them and freeze them for colder days. Same for the basil, you can chop it and freeze it; It will regain its full flavor once defrosted.Ingredients For the broth:

  • 2 l water
  • 1 celery stalk with its leaves
  • 1 tomato
  • 2 small carrots, peeled and sliced or cut in small sticks
  • 1 large broccoli bouquet
  • 1 tsp coarse salt
  • 1 white onion, peeled and quartered

For the tomato ‘juice’:

  • 2 kgs small size tomatoes
  • 4 tbsp olive oil

For the risotto:

  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbsp oliv oil
  • 1 white onion, peeled and diced
  • 300g risotto rice
  • 3 cup oven roasted tomatoes
  • 1 large handful basil leaves, chopped
  • grated parmesan
  • Guérande salt and pepper

Recipe:

  1. The night before, prepare the vegetable broth (check for the eggplant and lemon risotto)
  2. Preheat your oven to 300°F
  3. In an oven dish, place the tomatoes. Drizzle with the olive oil nnd put the tomatoes to roast
  4. When their flesh starts to wrinkle, remove the dish from the oven and retrieve the juice; Then place again the tomatoes in the oven
  5. Once nicely roasted, retrieve them and let them cool down
  6. Peel them and keep the peel for a tomato pesto (check the tomato pesto recipe) and set aside
  7. In a pan large enough to cook the rice with the broth, add the butter, the oil and the onion dices. Brown them on high heat
  8. Add the rice and stir till it’s well greased, fully covered with butter and oil
  9. Add the tomatoe juice and the broth so the rice is just under the liquid surface (use first the tomato juice, then the broth)
  10. Lower the heat and stir the rice till the broth is fully absorbed and till the rice is cooked ‘al dente’ (approx. 20 minutes, depending on the rice risotto brand you use)
  11. Add the roasted tomatoes and serve immediately with grated parmesan, salt, pepper and chopped basil

Enjoy!