This is a recipe for a delicious creamy tomato risotto topped with crunchy garlic croutons, made with mostly store-bought ingredients. It’s tender, creamy, with a slight tomato flavor with just the right amount of spiciness! Enjoy the classics of Italian cuisine!
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The base of the sauce for this creamy tomato risotto is mostly canned tomatoes. Every bite of this tender rice is infused with notes of tomato, and at the end you add cream, Parmesan, and black pepper to complete the perfect composition of flavors. And of course, we top it off with crunchy garlic crumbles.
How to cook tomato risotto?
- First, make the tomato-based broth. Place the chopped tomatoes in a large pitcher with the vegetable broth and tomato purée. Stir and heat (in the microwave or in a pan) until hot.
- Fry the chopped onion and garlic in a pan with a little oil, then add the rice (arborio rice is usually used) and the wine.
- Wait until the wine is almost completely absorbed, then ladle in the tomato stock. Stir regularly and make sure each ladle is almost completely absorbed before adding the next.
- Finish the risotto with cream, Parmesan cheese (or a vegetarian hard cheese alternative), lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
- While the risotto is cooking, melt some butter in a small pan with some salt and garlic, then add the breadcrumbs and toast, stirring often. Turn off the heat and stir in the parsley, lemon zest and Parmesan cheese (or a vegetarian version of hard cheese).
Among the ingredients that this recipe requires, there are none that are too complicated. Yes, to prepare this risotto, you must have vegetable broth prepared in advance. But even if you don’t have it, cooking won’t take much time. You can use either panko breadcrumbs or you can make your own.
Occasionally, you find that you’ve gone overboard with your bread purchases and have a pile of slightly stale bread. Instead of throwing it away, just grate it or use a food processor. Put the crumbs into small freezer bags and place them in the freezer.
That means they’re waiting for you whenever you want to make that meal, or maybe fish burgers and fries or spaghetti and meatballs.
What is risotto served with? You can serve this dish as a main dish or as a side dish with salmon or chicken.
Easy risotto recipe
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Simple risotto recipe
A recipe for a delicious creamy tomato risotto, seasoned with crunchy garlic crackers, made mostly from store-bought ingredients.
Ingredients
For risotto
- Tomatoes – 400 gr. (canned in own juice)
- Vegetable broth – 240 ml.
- Tomato paste – 2 tbsp. l.
- Olive oil – 1 tbsp. l.
- Onion – 1 pc. (small)
- Garlic – 1 clove
- Arborio rice – 150 gr. (short Italian grain rice)
- White wine – 80 ml. (if desired, replace with broth)
- Cream – 3 tbsp. l. (thick)
- Parmesan cheese – 4 tbsp. l. (or vegetarian Italian hard cheese if you want a vegetarian recipe)
- Lemon juice – 1 tbsp. l.
- Salt and pepper – to taste
For garlic crumb
- Butter – 1 tbsp. l.
- Salt – ¼ tsp.
- Garlic – 2 cloves
- Panko breadcrumbs – 4 tbsp. l. (30 gr.)
- Chopped parsley – 1 tsp.
- Zest of half a lemon
- Parmesan cheese – 3 tbsp. l. (20 g), (or vegetarian Italian hard cheese if you want a vegetarian recipe)
Instructions
First, prepare the tomato-based broth. Place the chopped tomatoes in a large pitcher. Add vegetable broth and tomato purée and mix. Heat this broth in a small saucepan or in the microwave until almost boiling, then turn off the heat.
Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes until the onion is translucent, add the garlic, stir and cook for another minute.
Add the rice and stir until the oil coats the rice. Add the wine and stir.
Wait until the wine is almost completely absorbed (stirring regularly), then add the tomato stock one ladle at a time, making sure each previous portion is almost completely absorbed before adding the next. Stir regularly.
After about 15–20 minutes, you should have used up all the broth. Taste the rice. It should be soft but still have a bit of bite (it will soften even more if you add cream). If the rice is still too hard, you can add a ladle or so of water. Reduce the heat to very low.
Next, prepare the crispy garlic crumbles. In a small pan, heat the butter until it begins to foam slightly.
Add the salt and garlic and stir for about 30 seconds.
Add the breadcrumbs and toss to coat all the breadcrumbs with the butter.
Fry until the breadcrumbs begin to brown slightly, stirring often. Keep a close eye on them as they burn effortlessly.
Once ready, turn off the heat and add the parsley, lemon zest and Parmesan.
Now back to your risotto. Add cream, Parmesan, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
Mix everything well on the fire, and then serve, sprinkled with crispy breadcrumbs.
Your creamy tomato risotto with crispy garlic crumble is ready!
Bon appétit!
Notes
To make the dish vegetarian, use vegetarian Parmesan or vegetarian Italian hard cheese instead of regular Parmesan.
If you follow a gluten-free diet – use gluten-free broth and make sure your tomato purée/paste is gluten-free (it often is, but it's best to check). Make breadcrumbs from gluten-free bread by grating or blitzing them in a food processor (or using gluten-free Panko).
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Nutrition Information
Serving Size
3 servingsAmount Per Serving Calories 488Total Fat 18gSaturated Fat 8gCholesterol 37mgSodium 1010mgCarbohydrates 67gFiber 5gSugar 10gProtein 13g