Ripe tomatoes cooked down into the rice, then cold burrata torn over the hot risotto so it slumps into the middle.
Prep
15 mins
Cook
45 mins
Servings
4
Per serving
£2.40
Difficulty
medium
A late-summer risotto that works surprisingly well with good tinned tomatoes in January too. The trick is roasting half the tomatoes and blitzing them into the stock, which gives the rice a deep colour and a sweetness you cannot get by stirring in passata at the end.
Heat the oven to 200C fan. Put the tomatoes cut side up in a roasting tin, trickle over 2 tbsp of the oil, scatter with the sugar and half the salt and roast for 30 minutes until collapsed and slightly charred at the edges.
Scrape half the roasted tomatoes and all their juices into a jug, blitz smooth with a stick blender and stir into the stock. Keep the rest whole for later. Bring the stock to a bare simmer.
Melt half the butter with the remaining oil in a wide pan. Soften the onion with the rest of the salt for 8 minutes, then add the garlic and tomato puree and fry for 1 minute until the puree darkens.
Stir in the rice and toast for 2 minutes, then pour in the wine and let it bubble away completely.
Add the tomato stock a ladle at a time, stirring often and waiting for each addition to be nearly absorbed. After 17-18 minutes the rice should be tender with a slight chew.
Tomato-heavy stock catches more easily than plain, so keep the heat gentle and the spoon moving.
Off the heat, beat in the remaining butter and the grated cheese, then fold through the reserved roasted tomatoes and half the basil, torn.
Spoon into warm shallow bowls, tear the burrata over the top, add plenty of black pepper, the rest of the basil and a final drizzle of oil.