Roasted Tomato & White Bean Risotto
A simple, comforting bowl of creamy risotto, white beans and spinach, drenched in garlicky roasted cherry tomatoes. It's highly flexible and customizable to your tastes and budget, and an excellent starting point for a vegetarian meal.
Ingredients
- 1 onion, minced
- 1 stalk celery, thinly sliced (optional, see notes)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup (200 g) arborio rice
- 1 cup (240 ml) white wine
- 4 cups (950 ml) vegetable stock
- 2 Tbsp salted butter
- 1 can white beans (I used cannellini), rinsed and drained
- ⅔ cup (75 g) Italian hard cheese
- 1 bunch basil
- 2 handfuls baby spinach
- salt and pepper, to taste
- Optional topping: fresh mozzarella, burrata, feta or goat's cheese
Roasted Tomatoes
- 1 lb (500 g) cherry tomatoes, halved
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2-4 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 160C / 320F.
- Get the tomatoes roasting. Add the cherry tomatoes to a deep sided baking or roasting dish. Drizzle with enough olive oil to coat all of the tomatoes, using a spatula to mix through, and and ensure the pan has a thin layer of oil over the entire bottom. Add in the balsamic vinegar and stir through to coat. Add garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Place in the oven for around 1 hour, or until they are well reduced and starting to brown.
- Now start off the risotto. Cook the celery and onions over a low heat until translucent and fully softened. This will take about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, then saute until fragrant.
- Add the arborio rice and the wine to the pan. Let the wine cook down, stirring frequently, until the pan is almost dry.
- Add a little bit of the vegetable stock, enough to cover the rice, and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the liquid is almost gone again. Repeat this process several times until the rice is cooked al dente. It will usually take 20-25 minutes but check in at the 15 minute mark. If you run out of vegetable stock, just use hot water.
- Once the rice is cooked al dente, turn the heat down very low and add the butter, spinach and cheese. Stir until the cheese is melted and the spinach is wilted. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Now add the white beans and most of the roasted tomatoes (saving a couple small spoonfuls to top individual serving with) and mix through. Make sure to get as much of the roasting oil out of the dish and into the risotto as you can - it adds so much richness and flavor to the dish.
- Remove from the heat and mix the basil through, then serve immediately, with the reserved tomatoes as a topping.
Notes
Celery - the celery brings some extra flavor, but only use it if you have the extra time to cook it until it's really soft and melty. You don't want to know it's there, and if undercooked you'll get crunchy celery bits throughout the dish.
Cherry tomatoes - this amount is a minimum, you could definitely use more if you have more and have enough space in the roasting dish.
Calories: 517kcal, Carbohydrates: 51g, Protein: 13g, Fat: 28g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 17g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 18mg, Sodium: 766mg, Potassium: 650mg, Fiber: 6g, Sugar: 4g, Vitamin A: 1832IU, Vitamin C: 23mg, Calcium: 220mg, Iron: 5mg