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Rich in flavour, TarraWarra Estate’s Head Chef Mark Ebbels’ take on Tomato Risotto is the perfect dish to impress any Dad. Inspired by the traditional combination of tomato and basil, this risotto features large red tomatoes, semi-dried tomatoes and tomato stock, paired beautifully with basil and oregano.

 

Serves: 4 people
Cooking time: 1 hour

 

Ingredients:
Basil oil garnish:
  • 500g basil leaves (no stems)
  • Grapeseed oil
  • Ice water

 

Tomato stock:
  • 2500g large red tomatoes
  • 500g tomato paste
  • 100g grapeseed oil
  • 1600g Vegetable stock Risotto rice base:
  • 300g carnaroli rice
  • 50g grapeseed oil
  • 45g diced shallots
  • 10g chopped garlic
  • 240g white wine
  • 900g vegetable stock

 

To serve:
  • 2 cups tomato stock
  • Riotto base
  • 250g Botanical Cuisine Cultured Cashew Butter
  • Lemon juice – to season
  • Salt – to season
  • Basil oil
  • Semi-dried tomatoes, sliced into small pieces to garnish
  • Cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters to garnish
  • 3-4 marjoram leaves

 

Method:
Basil oil garnish:
  1. Blanch the greens in boiling water for 5-10 seconds
  2. Scoop them out and refresh in ice water immediately, then wring all of the water out of the chilled herbs with a tea towel
  3. Weigh the blanched herbs, then, weigh out double the weight of grapeseed oil into a separate container
  4. Blend the blanched herbs and grapeseed oil thoroughly

 

Tomato stock:
  1. Set your oven as high as it goes. At TarraWarra, it is set at 250 degrees. Once the oven is hot, roast the tomatoes for about 20 minutes until they soften
  2. Pass them through a fine sieve to remove the seeds and skin
  3. Heat the tomato paste with the grapeseed oil in a large pot for approximately 10 minutes over medium heat
  4. Add the roasted tomato liquid and vegetable stock, bring to a simmer then blend together
  5. Chill and reserve until you want to serve the risotto

 

Risotto rice base:
  1. Place a large flat tray in the fridge to cool rice after it is cooked
  2. Toast the rice in the grapeseed oil until fragrant in a pan
  3. Meanwhile, warm the vegetable stock
  4. Add the shallots and garlic to the toasted rice and cook for a few minutes to soften them
  5. Add the wine and reduce until it has almost completely evaporated
  6. Add vegetable stock a little at a time, stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan (you may not use all the vegetable stock, it depends on the size of your pan and the heat of your stove top)
  7. To test if the rice is cooked bite a grain in half. There should still be a tiny white bit in the centre. Once you have reached that point, spread the rice onto your cool tray in a thin layer to halt the cooking process
  8. Reserve in the fridge until needed

 

To serve:
  1. Warm 2 cups of the tomato stock in a medium pot, add the pre-cooked risotto rice and bring to a simmer, adjust the consistency with more tomato stock
  2. Remove from the heat and mix in the cashew butter. The quantity of stock and cashew butter is a personal preference – if you would like the dish to be creamy, add a lot of extra stock and butter
  3. Season with salt and lemon juice then transfer to plates
  4. Garnish with the basil oil, semi-dried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and a few marjoram leaves
  5. Serve immediately

 

Notes:

Some preparation can be made in advance for this recipe. Chef Mark Ebbels prefers to make everything the day before, as it makes serving the dish a quick and easy process.

TarraWarra uses grapeseed oil for a healthy neutral flavour. The risotto is finished with a cultured cashew butter from a Collingwood based company, Botanical Cuisine.

The viscosity and doneness of the rice is personal preference, so it is likely that there will be vegetable and tomato stock left over from the process, which are very handy items to have in the fridge!

 

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