This bowl of creamy cheesy risotto is the ultimate indulgence. I never pass up the opportunity to eat risotto. Rice on its own is pretty good, but when you cook it in a savory broth with butter and shallots and then finish it with cheese and roasted tomatoes, I mean, come one. How incredible does that sound? Even if you’re not a lover of tomatoes, I still encourage you to make this risotto. It’s creamy with tender pieces of rice floating throughout a warm and enticing blend of cheese and butter. For me, the tomatoes are the icing on the cake, because, like icing, I really love tomatoes. Especially when they’ve been cooked in hot oil with a bit of salt and blistered into the most intense flavor ever.
ROASTED TOMATO AND CHEDDAR RISOTTO
SERVES: 4 | DIFFICULTY: EASY | PREP TIME: 5 MIN | COOKING TIME: 30 MIN
INGREDIENTS
• 4 cups of stock
• 1 tbsp of butter
• 2 tbsp of olive oil
• 1 small shallot, diced
• 1 cup of arborio rice
• 2 cups of cherry tomatoes
• 1 cup of grated cheddar
• salt and pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
1. Bring the stock to simmer in a medium saucepan over low heat.
2. In a large frying pan or skillet, heat 1 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of olive oil on medium heat until warm.
3. Add the diced shallot and fry until fragrant.
3. Add the arborio rice and saute until you hear the rice begin to pop.
4. Add a ladle of stock to the rice and stir. Let the rice simmer until the stock has absorbed. Add another ladle of stock and stir. Let the stock fully absorb before you add the next ladle full. Continue in this manner until all of the stock has been absorebd into the rice and the rice is tender. This should take anywhere from 20 - 30 minutes.
5. While you are cooking the rice, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan on low-medium heat. Add the cherry tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Cover the tomatoes with a lid and allow them to cook until they are soft, roughly the same amount of time it takes to cook the rice.
6. Once the rice is cooked, stir in the cheese. You can add the tomatoes to the risotto and combine, or you can plate the risotto and serve the tomatoes on top.
