This oven baked risotto is so simple to make and will not disappoint! I usually make this dish as a side to go with some salmon and green veg, but it also works perfectly as a vegetarian main. If you do want to add meat to make this dish feel more like a main meal, I would suggest to add some chopped chorizo to give this Mediterranean style rice a hearty kick. The first time I made this recipe I used my flatmate’s prosecco which had been sitting in our fridge since Valentine’s Day (thanks Claire). Adding wine definitely gives the risotto a richer flavour, but I’ve made it substituting the wine for extra vegetable stock plenty of times and the dish still had the all-important creamy texture.
Ingredients:
This recipe makes four servings.
Olive oil (for the pan)
1 onion
300g risotto rice (arborio risotto rice is usually the cheapest and works well. No, you can’t use normal rice. Trust me, it won’t work)
100ml white wine (This is optional. If you’ve already drank all of your wine then you can just use extra vegetable stock)
400g tin or carton of chopped tomatoes
Two roasted peppers (around 200g worth). (You can roast them yourself by cutting them up, covering them in olive oil and whacking them in the oven on 180° for 10 mins or so. Alternatively, you can buy frozen roasted peppers from all good supermarkets)
500ml vegetable stock (Make this 600ml if you’re not using the wine).
Variations:
If you want to make a meat version of this risotto, you can add chopped salami or chorizo at the same time as the tomatoes, peppers and vegetable stock.
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 180°. If you’re going to roast your own peppers, you should do that as soon as the oven is nice and toasty.
- Heat the oil in a deep ovenproof pan/pot (i.e. not one with a plastic handle), then finely chop the onion and fry for a few minutes until softened.
- Turn up the heat a little, then add the rice and fry for a minute (KEEP STIRRING IT).
- Pour in the wine (if you have any left… *hic*) and stir the rice until it’s absorbed the wine.
- Pour in the tomatoes and add the roasted peppers and 400ml of stock to the mix.
- Cover the pan (if you don’t have a lid, try using some tin foil) and bake the risotto in the oven for 25 minutes until the rice is soft and creamy.
- CAREFULLY take the pan out of the oven (remember that handle is going to be HOT. I’ve burned myself too many times forgetting that simple fact…) and stir in the remaining stock.
- If you’re hungry and don’t want to do any more cooking, leave it as it is and enjoy! If you want to be fancy, season with salt, pepper, Italian herbs and parmesan.
Celeste Adams
Featured image courtesy of Celeste Adams.
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