Oven baked Spicy tomato Risotto
The mystery surrounding risottos kind of baffles me! There’s someone, somewhere who decided that it was hard to successfully make a good risotto, and it was then engraved in people’s heads. When in reality, it’s incredibly simple to make!
Anyhow, to help you guys out a bit here’s an almost fool-proof recipe (that might anger the Donato’s out there) but it works, and it’s uber simple: THE OVEN!
An oven baked risotto is possible, and it’s awesome.
Particularities
- Serves6 - 8
- Prep time15 mins
- Cook time40 mins
- Timeout-
- FreezingFreezes well
Ingredients
- 2 cups of chicken broth
- 1/4 cup of olive oil
- 1/2 cup of pancetta, diced
Replacement optionsbacon, prosciutto, sausages
- 1 cup of red onion, minced
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 2 cups of Arborio rice
- 1 (796 ml) can of diced tomatoes
- Salt & pepper, as preferred
- 1/2 teaspoon of chili pepper flakes (optional)
- 1 cup of Grana Padano cheese, Parmesan or Pecorino Romano, shredded
- 3 tablespoons of butter
- A bit of cream, as preferred (optional)
Steps
- Heat the chicken broth over medium heat in a pot, then simmer to keep the warmth. Preheat the oven to 350°F and place the rack at the centre of it.
- Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large pot then brown the pancetta for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the red onion and garlic then cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes or until the onion is see-through.
- Add the rice and cook for 5 minutes, stir thoroughly, making sure the rice is coated with the oil.
- Turn up the heat and pour the tomatoes in. Reduce until the rice has absorbed the juices entirely then season.
- Add the warm chicken broth and chilli pepper flakes. Cover and bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until the rice is cooked entirely. Remove from the oven then add the cheese and butter while continuously stirring.
- Check the seasoning if needed and serve immediately. For a creamier version, add a bit of cream in the mix.
Tips & tricks
While we are well aware that true Italians will want to kill us for making risotto in the oven, haha, this recipe is purely a more practical way of doing so, and its texture is perfect to make some Arancini afterwards. ?
Recipe published on August 19, 2018
