Fresh Creamy Tomato Risotto (with garden grown beefsteak tomatoes)
Creamy tomato risotto recipe made with garden fresh, homegrown beefsteak tomatoes.
The ultimate risotto is creamy and easy to make. And let me tell you, this creamy tomato risotto ticks both those boxes as well as many more; vegetarian? tick, delicious? tick, made with homegrown beefsteak tomatoes right from my garden to plate? tick.
Throughout this recipe I’ll walk you through all the tips and tricks you need for recreating this delicious recipe and understanding how making risotto doesn’t have to be difficult.
You can make this with any tomatoes you want, homegrown or store bought, beefsteak or cherry. But since I’m making this with homegrown tomatoes, I might as well share some growing and cooking tips along the way. Speaking off…
Growing Beefsteak Tomatoes
Tomatoes are massively versatile.
You can use them in hundreds if not thousands of recipes. From soups to stews and of course - risottos.
Tomatoes are one of the best base ingredients you can get your hands on and let me tell you, growing them is refreshingly easily. If I can do it then so can you.
The tomatoes I choose to grow are beefsteak but you can grow whichever tomatoes you want. As for this recipe, my focus is on beefsteak but it’ll taste basically the same no matter what tomatoes you use. So feel free to mix it up if you want to grow a different variety of tomatoes.
How much space do you need for growing tomatoes?
A question I get asked when it comes to growing tomatoes is how much space you need. This is another reason why I love growing tomatoes, because you really don’t need that much.
Obviously the more space you have, the more tomatoes you’ll have to harvest. But you can still get plenty enough for a few meals with a tiny space.
I’ve seen plenty of people grow tomatoes on windowsills and balcony’s. I have a small yard and I pack it full of vegetables which grow just fine. Check out my vegetable patch below.
As you can see, it’s not a large space. Yet I’ve managed to grow everything from tomatoes, to courgettes, to carrots, pumpkins and broccoli. All at the same time in the same space.
That patch above is actually just 10 of these small cheap planters placed next to each other. And as you can see, my beefsteaks grow just fine.
As a side note, doesn’t that tomato look like a love heart? how cute.
Cooking with your homegrown tomatoes
Once your tomatoes are nice and ripe and feel free to reach out to me if you need any growing advice, it’s time to get cooking.
Like I mentioned above, there are so many recipe you can use your tomatoes for, this creamy risotto for starters. But how about something for breakfast? Such as this healthy Shakshuka.
Tips for Peeling Tomatoes
A tip more specific for this recipe is peeling your tomatoes.
Tomatoes, especially home grown, tend to be super juicy inside, so peeling them like a potato or an orange just doesn’t work. So before you waste a bunch of time and get stressed out trying to peel your tomatoes, try this technique.
This is the easiest way to peel a tomato. In fact, it’s so easy, the tomato will literally peel itself.
Step 1
Boil water then turn it to a simmer.
Once the water is nicely simmering, drop in your tomatoes for 1 minute. Whilst the timer is ticking prepare a bowl of ice water.
Step 2
After a minute carefully remove your tomatoes and drop them into the ice bath. This will stop the tomatoes cooking. Wait until they have fully cooled down then just pull away the skin.
When using larger tomatoes like beefsteaks and as you will see on the above photo, the skin pretty much peels itself during the cooking boil.
Risotto tips and myth busting
Now tomatoes and gardening aside, let’s talk about risotto.
Risotto is a dish that gets a bad rep for being notoriously difficult to cook. For why? I could not tell you because it really doesn’t have to be.
When it comes to cooking risotto the big thing that intimidates people the most is whether you really need to stand over the pan constantly stirring for the entirety of the time. So let’s address that.
Do you need to constantly stir risotto?
In short, no.
The secret to a perfect risotto is to add the stock a little bit at a time, waiting till it’s fully absorbed, then adding more. The reason you need to stir so much is because you’re waiting for the stock to fully absorb so if you don’t stir, the risotto rice will stick to the bottom of the pan.
So it’s not about stirring all the time, it’s about stirring at the right time.
When you first add the stock, stir well, then when it’s nearly absorbed, start stirring again. The in-between time doesn’t really matter.
More risotto tips
Here are a few more of my top tips when it comes to cooking risotto;
Toast the risotto rice when you first add it to the pan. This will crack the rice and make it absorb the stock easier.
Season at the end of cooking as opposed to the beginning. That way you’ll have a better idea of what the dish actually needs.
Keep your stock consistently hot. When cooking risotto, if you’re adding cold stock it’ll stump, slow down, or completely stop the cooking process. Meaning the risotto will end up being crunchy instead of creamy. Usually, people mix stock in a jug with boiling water from the kettle, which is fine, however, risotto takes 30-40 minutes to cook.
Which means by the end your stock will be cold. So pop that stock in a saucepan and keep it on a low temperature through the entirety of your cooking. That’ll ensure your stock stays hot and your risotto is creamy.
How to make your risotto super creamy
After you’ve finished cooking your risotto, stir in a knob of butter then let it sit for a few minutes. The result will be the creamiest risotto you’ve ever had.
Helpful Equipment For Risotto cooking
Before we get to that all important recipe, a quick note on equipment.
A few household essentials are needed; measuring jug, bowls and plates (of course) and pots and pans for cooking. Now, when it comes to the pan, you ideally want a non stick pan with a wider surface to make sure your risotto rice cooks evenly, and a wooden spoon as we are going to be stirring quite often.
The Best Risotto Pan
This ‘made in cookware’ saucier pan is my absolute favourite recommendation for risotto.
The base is the perfect size for evenly cooking a creamy risotto.
Wooden Utensils
Wooden utensils are perfect for cooking. They handle heat better, you don’t burn yourself, they’re easy to clean and they don’t scratch pans.
You don’t have to pick up the most expensive ones either, this cheap set would be more then adequate.
fresh creamy tomato risotto
Ingredients
Instructions
- Wash your tomatoes and place them in a pan of boiling water, simmer for 1 minute. Remove the tomatoes and place into a bowl of ice water until they are completely cool. Once cooled you should be able to easily peel the tomatoes.
- Chop the tomatoes roughly and place into a good blender along with 500ml of vegetable stock and 3 cloves of garlic. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper then blend till smooth.
- Pour into a saucepan and gently heat (not boiling) so we can constantly add it to our risotto whilst hot.
- Add the olive oil to a pan along with the chopped onion and cook till translucent.
- Add your risotto and toast for 30 seconds till 1 minute. You want the risotto to 'crack'. The edges should start turning translucent and that's when you know it's time to move to the next step.
- Add the wine and stir till the wine has completely evaporated. Now start adding your beefsteak tomato stock to your risotto 1 ladle at a time, with each ladle stir and wait for the stock to be completely absorb before adding your next ladle. Keep doing this until you've ran out of stock. This will take around 30-40 minutes.
- Once cooked, stir through the knob of butter along with the basil. Taste and season starting with salt and pepper, then moving onto whatever seasonings you like the most.
- Plate up, sprinkle your parmesan over the top and garnish with a tomato wedge and sprig of basil.
Notes
Check out the above for gardening and risotto cooking tips. Check out the below for recommended products and similar recipes.
Nutrition Facts
Calories
590.32Fat
17.97 gSat. Fat
7.41 gCarbs
84.57 gFiber
7.24 gNet carbs
77.33 gSugar
14.21 gProtein
10.74 gSodium
1165.62 mgCholesterol
25.97 mgThe nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
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Hi, I’m Cameron, guv’nor of Smartblend. If you liked this then you’re in luck, I have a bunch more recipes like it. I share only vegetarian and pescatarian food recipes, cocktails, and drink guides with a sprinkling of wellness and mindful drinking. If that sounds like you, then stick around!
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