Tomatoes ✧ Fresh Mozzarella ✧ Basil — a truly timeless combo… Probably most famously, as the classic Italian appetizer, caprese. And this trio makes for a heavenly pasta dish (as I had rhapsodized about in this comment). And tonight’s WFD is in a similar vein, but is a risotto.
This risotto is derived from the same cookbook as its pasta counterpart (and also the carbonara, of my previous WFD diary): “Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen”. I also have another cookbook of hers- “Lidia's Italian Table”- that has some additional to-die-for risotto recipes (i.e. saffron risotto, and beet risotto…) And so I thoroughly respect her expertise in this matter, when she says:
Risotto- when made correctly- speaks of Italy. There are no two ways of making risotto; either you make it right, or it is not risotto.
(Yes, ma’am.) 😊 Although I do make a few alterations to her recipe (mine is based off of the Tomato and Mozzarella variation of her Basic Risotto), however my changes are only with the ingredients (and this she actually encourages, as she states on the Basic Risotto page: “Think of this recipe as a master plan for making risotto, and the additions and variations that follow it as inspirations for your own creations.”)
So it’s more the procedure for making risotto, that she feels should be carefully adhered to (and so I do try my best at that).
But first, the ingredients…
From left to right:
Vegetable Broth (and Bullion): Lidia’s Basic Risotto recipe calls for 4½ cups of broth, and my favorite broth is sold in 4 cup boxes, so I just add a little extra water & a bullion cube.
Butter
Onions
Fresh Mozzarella: Cut into cubes
White Wine
Scallions
Parmigiano-Reggiano (and Romano): The latter is not in the Basic Risotto recipe, but this is one of my minor substitutions (which I’d also done in the carbonara recipe), which is to add a salty cheese (i.e. romano) along with the parm reg, instead of adding salt.
Leeks
Arborio Rice
Garlic: Another little substitution- I use jarred pre-chopped garlic, instead of fresh garlic (yes, the flavor is less intense, but garlic is so intense to begin with, that the time-saving jarred stuff is fine by me).
Vegetables (Mushrooms, Zucchini, Celery): I’d say that this is the most significant alteration I make to this recipe. I add in these veggies so this dish can be a bit more nutritious/less starchy. I think these particular veggies work well in this risotto because they’re fairly bland, so the primary tomato/mozzarella/basil flavors still dominate (but this probably wouldn’t still be the case if certain other vegetables, like say bell peppers, were put in). So the veggies that I use tend to more soak up the risotto flavor (thus the risotto basically acts as a sort of vegetable “vehicle”), than impart their own flavors to the risotto.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Basil
Tomatoes: Lidia’s recipe specifies cherry tomatoes, but here I used romas (just because I prefer roma tomatoes. And in the summer when I can get these amazeballs heirloom tomatoes at my local farmer’s market, I’ll use those in this recipe, as I also do with the “caprese” pasta dish.)
And now the preparation…
The first step is to saute the tomatoes (and in my variation, also the mushrooms, zucchini, & celery) in garlic & olive oil, and then mix in the basil, and set it aside.
Next- cook the onion in olive oil for 4 minutes, then add the leeks and scallions and cook for 6 more minutes.
Then add the rice and cook for about a minute, and then pour in the wine, bring it to a boil, and stir until the wine is evaporated.
And the next part is what I’d say requires the most patience and diligence… On the burner to the left, I have the vegetable stock on low heat-
which is added, about a half cup at a time, to the risotto pot. After each ½ cup is added, the simmering risotto should be stirred until the liquid has been absorbed, and once that point is reached then the next ½ cup is added, & repeat until all the broth has been used (which I find usually takes about 25 minutes. I’ll confess though, that I don’t dote over this as slavishly as I’m perhaps supposed to- I usually multitask with emptying the dishwasher, or making the salad.) And the tomato (and veggies) and basil mixture should be added in around midway through this.
Lastly- add the butter and stir it in until it’s melted, and then stir in the grated cheese and the mozzarella.
Rounding out the meal (& helping to make it less “carb-centric)- green salad & kielbasa (yes, I realize I’m mixing different ethnic cuisines here, but I just find Italian sausages to be too spicy for my tastes, whereas Polish sausages to me are juuuuuust right. 😋 And my vegetarian husband makes fake meat sausages for himself, his favorite brand for those being Tofurkey.)
Buon Appetito!