Recipe Report: Stuart's Tomato Risotto

[Jenise]

Night time temperatures are suddenly in the 40's again, and the silly little tomato season that almost wasn't is probably over. The gold rush I'd hoped for was not even a whoosh, and the peak haul from my five vines was the 12 tomatoes picked on both Thursday and Saturday. Yesterday I kind of cheated on the color scale to pick the 7 tomatoes I did for this risotto, and they've already turned a little grainy in texture like bad supermarket winter tomatoes. I presume that in no more than a week, I'll be forced to pick any unripened fruit and drag them inside to ripen.

Sigh.

So the week of seven consecutive tomato dinners I had planned just isn't going to happen, but we had the inaugural menu last night anyway with Stuart's tomato risotto. (link to recipe: [url]http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village/viewtopic.php?t=10023[/url].

Oh, was it fabulous. Great method, great results--Stuart, thank you! It was both our main course and our starter--who would dare keep a perfectly cooked risotto waiting?--a big bowl of romaine, radicchio and escarole was delivered to the table before we sat down, and we helped ourselves to that once we finished our risotto. A bottle of the 2005 Mt. Baker Vineyards Sangiovese was our dinner wine.

What I really enjoyed was how my Texan husband swooned over the dish. I had to ask him if, 20 years ago, he could have imagined himself not just eating but really loving a meal in which his main course was essentially a bowl of rice. His spoon froze halfway to his face, and then he burst out laughing.

No, that would not have happened.

Glad it worked out. Pretty simple stuff. God help me, the paella version was even better...

[Jenise]

Was there a recipe posted for the paella version? [bright look] I would want to bake it until the tomato stuff gets crusted all around the edges of the pan, and then I'd eat that first.

Hey, Jenise, I can testify to the paella version.

Stunning. Absolutely stunning. Legendary, really.

Was there a recipe posted for the paella version? [bright look] I would want to bake it until the tomato stuff gets crusted all around the edges of the pan, and then I'd eat that first.

Please refer to my post #2.

Here you go, Jenise!


Paella With Tomatoes: Mark Bittman, NYT 9/5/07

Time: 30 minutes


3 1/2 cups stock or water
1 1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into thick wedges
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon tomato paste
Large pinch saffron threads (optional)
2 teaspoons Spanish pimentón (smoked paprika), or other paprika
2 cups Spanish or other short-grain rice
Minced parsley for garnish.

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Warm stock or water in a saucepan. Put tomatoes in a medium bowl, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and drizzle them with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Toss to coat.

2. Put remaining oil in a 10- or 12-inch ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables soften, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, saffron if you are using it, and paprika and cook for a minute more. Add rice and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is shiny, another minute or two. Add liquid and stir until just combined.

3. Put tomato wedges on top of rice and drizzle with juices that accumulated in bottom of bowl. Put pan in oven and roast, undisturbed, for 15 minutes. Check to see if rice is dry and just tender. If not, return pan to oven for another 5 minutes. If rice looks too dry but still is not quite done, add a small amount of stock or water (or wine). When rice is ready, turn off oven and let pan sit for 5 to 15 minutes.

4. Remove pan from oven and sprinkle with parsley. If you like, put pan over high heat for a few minutes to develop a bit of a bottom crust before serving.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

[Jenise]

Thanks, Cynthia. Cross your fingers for me that I get more 'maters (pirate talk for tomatoes) ripe enough for this dish, it got down to 39 last night. But it's clear and sunny....

Was there a recipe posted for the paella version? [bright look] I would want to bake it until the tomato stuff gets crusted all around the edges of the pan, and then I'd eat that first.

Please refer to my post #2.

Arrrrr, shiver me timbers, matey! E's blimey go' i'.

Dastardly Dick

FYI, Jenise, JD and I agreed that the only thing that kept the tomato paella recipe from being perfect was the thoughtful addition of a few prawns, some mussels, maybe a touch here and there of squid.

Stuart demurred.

And JD and Stuart belong to the "Oh hell, one more good healthy pinch of saffron" Club. Which is a good thing---as long as you're not buying the saffron.

My paella was pretty similar to the Bittman version, but no tomato paste- I made a reduction of fresh tomatoes with salt and a bit of garlic, then added it to the sautee before the rice, instead of the tomato paste. Then I cooked it until it dried out and darkened a bit, then added the rice.

I used a fresh vegetable broth (celery, carrot, onion, parsley, salt'n'pepper, thyme) and increased the liquid to 4 to 4-1/2 c. Near the end of cooking, I did a radial pattern of spinach leaves, then cracked some eggs over the top. When they just set and the spinach was wilted, serving time.

The last time I made it, I used a combination of red tomatoes and green stripeys for the wedges. Very pretty. I'm supposed to do this again on Friday...

This was seriously good eats. With the extra helping of saffron, it's a natural match for aged California Cabernet.