I finally learned how to make Risotto! May seem like a small thing to those of you who already knew but I had been trying for years to make a decent one and failed every time. I even paid and went to an evening cooking class to learn but walked away defeated.
Well, life has changed let me tell you. At a very recent house sit they had a cookbook called ‘Risotto’ and I spent time wandering through the pages looking to see if I would give it one last try.
It turned out the summer vegetable garden there was overflowing with tomatoes and basil and the home owners had told us to eat as many as we liked. It also turned out there was a lovely recipe for tomato and basil risotto and I gave it a try with massive success – at last.
Here is the recipe
BASIL AND TOMATO RISOTTO
1 onion
oil in the pan for the onion
400 gram Arborio rice – ONLY use this rice and read the instructions on how to cook it if you are unsure
125 ml white wine
900 ml vegetable or chicken stock
1/2 cup parmesson cheese
8 tomatoes – I used heaps of them in the recipe
20 basil leaves – again I just heaped them in the pan
Method
dice the onion and gently heat that – don’t brown it though
then add the rice and mix it all together coating the rice
slowly add the warm or hot wine and keep stirring
when the wine has all gone then start adding the stock slowly – keep stirring though
when half of the stock has been added you can put the tomatoes in – all of them
keep stirring and keep adding the stock until the rice is ready – taste it every now and then to tell – if it is crunchy or too chewy then just add more liquid and keep stirring
just before you are ready to serve add the basil leaves (chopped up or as single leaves) and stir them in and add the parmesan cheese
Hints
always have the wine and stock already heated – add them slowly as you are stirring
stay with it and keep stirring
I
