Roasted tomato risotto: a gluten-free and vegan dinner. It’s comforting, warming and rich in tomato flavour. Delicious served up in bowls and garnished with fresh basil leaves or crispy garlic breadcrumbs.
As we start to see out the last few weeks of summer, I wanted to share a dinner we’ve loved all summer long. A tasty creamy and flavourful tomato risotto you’re going to want to cook not just in the summer, but throughout the year.
I’ve made a few rice dishes for the blog including Mexican Red Rice (the very first recipe ever posted on this blog), Saffron Rice and Lemon Herb Rice. Apart from sharing these Double Cheese Arancini, I’ve not shared a risotto recipe, which surprises me as risotto is something we eat quite often and a go-to dinner of ours.
If you’re not familiar with risotto, it’s a traditional Northern Italian dish of rice cooked in broth/stock. Traditionally arborio or carnaroli rice is used because these types of rice absorb liquid and release starch, they’re both sticker in consistency compared to long grain rice. It depends on what I have in, but I tend to use arborio, but sometimes I’ll use carnaroli – the latter will produce the creamiest risotto.
I’ve eaten different risotto recipes and my personal favourites include mushroom (risotto ai funghi), butternut squash/pumpkin risotto (risotto alla zucca) and now this tomato version.
We made this risotto only a couple of weeks ago and we enjoyed it so much. Roasted tomatoes are a veggie can’t get enough of, I have them roasted and spread over toast for breakfast, with pasta, on top of polenta or blended up in soup.
The flavour of this risotto reminded me of tomato sauce I used to eat when I was younger, it had sweetness, tangy tomato flavour and the rice/sauce was creamy without needing any butter or cream.
Serve the risotto with some grated cheese (if you’re vegan then just use your favourite dairy-free alternative or nutritional yeast flakes) with a side salad and garlic bread. When we first made this, we ate the risotto with vegan sausages and homegrown green beans and recently with roasted onion and bell peppers.
Dish the risotto up and garnish with some fresh basil leaves or another herb of your choice. I love how vibrant the basil looks on top of the risotto. If you don’t have any basil on hand, even just a sprinkle of dried oregano will look and taste great.
Roasted Tomato Risotto
Ingredients
- 325 g baby plum or cherry tomatoes left whole
- 2 tablespoons olive oil one for the risotto and the other for roasting the tomatoes
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 red or white onion finely diced
- 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
- 300 g risotto rice
- 500 ml tomato passata
- 900 ml vegetable stock, plus extra if needed I use a mix of vegetable and white wine stock cubes
Instructions
- To prepare the roasted tomatoes: Take the baby plum/cherry tomatoes and place in a small baking dish. Drizzle with one tablespoon of the olive oil and season well with salt and black pepper. We will roast these later on once the risotto has started cooking.
- To make the risotto: Heat the other tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan (I'd recommend using a frying pan). Over a medium to high heat sauté the onion and garlic for a 2-3 minutes until softened. Season well with salt and black pepper.
- Now add the risotto rice to the pan and toast over the heat for another minute.
- In a large jug mix together the pasatta and vegetable stock until combined. Turn the heat down slightly and add a ladel of the tomato/stock liquid to the risotto. Keep adding the liquid bit by bit until it's absorbed, stirrring well in between each addition.
- Once the risotto has been cooking for about 10 minutes, pop the tomatoes you prepared earlier in the oven at 200°C / 180°C Fan / 400°F / Gas Mark 6. Roast the tomatoes for 15-20 minutes. Once they're ready, take out from the oven ready for later.
- Cook the risotto for roughly 25-30 minutes or until the rice is cooked through, add more boiling water or stock to get the consistency as you desire.
- Once the risotto rice is cooked, add 3/4 of the roasted tomatoes and stir through. Serve the risotto in a large bowl or seperate bowls, garnish with the remaining roasted tomatoes and fresh basil leaves.
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