Whole-grain risotto with tomato and sage
Prep Time: 10 minutes + soaking time
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Keywords: boil pasta gluten-free soy-free sugar-free vegetarian rice tomatoes Italian
Ingredients (Serves 4)
- 2 1/2 cups / 600 ml vegetable broth, possibly homemade
- 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/4 cup / 4 tablespoons minced onion
- 5-6 leaves of pineapple sage, slivered (see Note below)
- 4 oz. / 123 g cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered (depending on their size)
- 1 cup / 200 g whole-grain Carnaroli rice
- 2 tablespoons / 30 ml white wine, not cold
- 1/2 cup / 120 ml water
- 1/4 cup of myzithra or ricotta salata, grated
- Sea salt, to taste
Instructions
Note: The quantity of sage depends not only on your taste, but also on the intensity of flavor of the kind you use and on the size of its leaves. The leaves of my pineapple sage are fairly large.
Soak the rice for 5-6 hours.
Bring vegetable broth to a simmer in a small saucepan and maintain it at that temperature.
In the meantime, in a larger pan, warm up the olive oil, then add the onion and sage. Cook on low until the onion is translucent, then add the cherry tomatoes.
After 3-4 minutes, add the rice, drained, and cook for 1-2 minutes.
Add the white wine and stir. Let the wine evaporate, while stirring the rice, then start adding the simmering broth, a ladleful at a time, and letting the rice absorb it.
Keep the risotto at a nice simmer and stir it at regular intervals. Make sure it never gets dry.
When you pour the last ladleful of broth, bring to simmer the water and add it as needed until the rice is cooked (35 minutes in my case, consistent with the information on the label, which says 30-35 minutes). The texture will be different from risotto made with regular Carnaroli rice, a bit chewy, instead of creamy: take that into account when tasting it.
Remove the pan from the heat, add the cheese of choice, adjust the salt, stir, then let the risotto rest, covered, for a few minutes while you gather the guests around the table.
Serve and enjoy.
