Tomato Risotto

for the broth
1/2 red onion, peeled
1 small carrot, peeled
1/2 leafy celery stalk
3 parsley stalks with leaves
1/2 small tomato

for the risotto3 tbs olive oil
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled but left whole
pinch of dried chilli flages (optional)
200g risotto rice
1 cup passatta
2 large basil leaves, torn
20g grated parmesan cheese
100g mozarella cheese, cut into 1-2 cm cubes
2 tbs olive oil to serve
grated parmesan to serve

for the broth

put the onion, carrot, celery, parsley and tomato in a pan with 1.25 litres of water.

add salt and bring to the boil.

reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, then turn down the heat as low as it will go and leave the pan over the heat.

for the risotto

heat the olive oil in a large frying pan, add the onion and garlic and saute over low-medium heat for about 5 minutes or until lightly golden.

stir in the chilli flakes and rice and cook for anouther minute.

add half the passatta, half the basil and 1 1/2 cups of the hot broth.

reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

add the rest of the passatta and the remaining broth and simmer for 10 minutes or until the risotto rice is cooked (if it needs another few minutes or a little more liquid, just use hot water).

remove the garlic cloves and discard them.

stir in the parmesan, mozarella and remaining basil.

serve as soon as the mozarella starts to melt, drizzled with olive oil, grated black pepper and extra grated parmesan.

this works served with basil oil, or basil pesto, or creamy basil pesto (cream added to pesto) or parmesan cream ( cream added to finely grated parmesan).

this is a good risotto mix to use to make arancini.

this works served with extra olive oil drenched (before frilling) and garlic smeared (after grilling) bruschetta.

this also works with roasted zucchini and eggplant ‘chips’, roasted garlic and roasted mushroom.

this is hard to scale up, concentration of flavour and ratios are criticially important.