Based on Ina Garten’s Easy Baked Risotto and Martha Rose Shulman’s Basil and Tomato Risotto from NY Times Cooking.
I halved theirs to make it 2-3 servings and I added more tomato and tomato juice, more parmesan, more wine and I also added saffron.
2-3 Servings
10 minutes prep
50 minutes cooking
Ingredients:
1 T cooking oil
1/2 cup onion
1 cup grated or finely diced tomatoes
(or 2 cups if not using tomato juice)
3/4 cups Arborio rice
1.5 cups chicken stock
1 cup tomato juice (or 1 cup grated or diced tomatoes instead)
pinch of saffron in 1/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup dry white wine
(optional: 1.5 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced)
1 teaspoons kosher salt sprinkled over 1/2 cup diced tomatoes
.5 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 T finely chopped basil
Directions:
Cook onions and tomatoes in tablespoon of oil until begin to caramelize
Add rice and cook until certain sound made from rice
Add wine and cook a bit more
Add stock/tomatoes/tomato juice to make 2.75 cups total,
Put in Dutch oven and bake at 350 for 40 min
(or continue to cook on stovetop, stirring and adding stock/tomato juice as needed to keep just covered)
When rice texture begins to approach al dente, return to or keep on stovetop, and add saffron water, parmesan, (optional butter) and stir vigorously for 2-3 minutes until sludgy (takes at least 3 seconds to splay out after being shaped up)
Add diced salted tomatoes and black pepper, gently stir until heated and then serve with chopped basil on top
Note: To add color, use green or orange or pink or purple tomatoes for the salted diced tomatoes added near end
