Preparation Time:few seconds and leave the marinate for 3 0 minutes uo to 3 hours to set
Cooking Time:25 minutes
Level of Difficulty:Easy
Servings:2

Ingredients

• Ingredients for the essence:
• 1250g Tomatoes- cherry, ripe and washed
• 30g Celery, washed and finely chopped
• 10g Shallots, peeled and finely chopped
• 50g Fennel, finely chopped
• 1 clove Garlic, peeled and sliced
• 1  sprig Thyme leaves, chopped
• Basil, leaves chopped
• 10g Sea salt
• 10g Sugar (optional) (*1)
• 1 pinch Cayenne pepper
• Ingredients for the risotto:
• 1 an onion finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 30ml olive oil
• 200g Carnaroli rice (*2)
• 7pinches sea salt
• 2 pinches white pepper
• 300ml hot water
• 300ml tomato essence (recipe above)
• Ingredients to finish risotto:
• 1 tsp    Butter, unsalted
• 40g peas, shelled
• 40g broad beans, baby
• 40g baby carrots, washed and sliced
• 30g Mascarpone cream
• 20g Parmesan, finely grated
• 40g Tomatoes, cherry vine cut in half
• 3 sprigs Chervil leaves, chopped
• 2 sprigs Basil leaves, chopped
• 1 sprig Parsley leaves, chopped

Method

1. Making the tomato essence:
2. In a food processor, blitz all the ingredients together 3 times for 2 seconds each, using the pulse button (*3). Allow to marinate for a minimum of 30 minutes and up to 3 hours. Hang in a double folded muslin cloth to collect the liquid, reserve.
3. Cooking the risotto:
4. Bring the water to the boil. Soften the onion and garlic in the olive oil on a low heat until soft (approximately 2 minutes) Stir in the rice and continue to cook on medium heat for 2 minutes until the grains of rice appear translucent.  Season with salt and pepper. Add the hot water; stir until it has all been absorbed simmering (bubbles breaking the surface). Follow this with the essence and continue cooking the rice as before. The rice will take 20 – 25 minutes to cook to perfection (*4).
5. After 20 minutes add all the vegetables, cook for a further 5 minutes stirring continually; add the parmesan, mascarpone, tomatoes and herbs.
6. Taste, adjust the seasoning if necessary and serve.
7. Chef’s notes (*):
8. 1. To make a great tomato essence, you need to source the very best tomatoes. We use cherry tomatoes because they are sweeter. An un-ripe tomato or poor variety will give you a poor quality of essence.
9. 2. We have chosen Carnaroli rice as we believe it is the best. It not only gives a good flavour but also the best flavour and texture. It is cultivated mainly in the Piemonte region of Italy.
10. 3. Over blitzing the tomatoes to a purée will break down the tomato skin and give a completely different, coarser flavour. The colour will also be red, whilst we are looking for a pale gold colour, which is the heart of the tomato.
11. 4. Risotto is a simple dish but a complicated process. The stirring of the risotto will bring out the natural starch, give it a creamy consistency and also distribute the heat to give an even cooking of the rice.
12. 5. Over-cooking the risotto only takes 1–2 minutes, so taste at all stages of cooking and remember practice makes perfect.