Oven Roasted Tomato Risotto Recipe

The summer weather in the Bay Area hasn't been so great this year, and on top of that, an infestation of gophers in our garden forced us to grow fewer tomatoes in small planters this year. Not only are there fewer varieties, but because of the lack of heat the plants have not been all that prolific. I gathered a couple of handfuls of the few ripe cherry tomatoes I could find and I was determined to do something special with them.

To start, I slowly roasted them in the oven. I could have stopped there and just served them in a salad, but I opted to make my husband's favorite comfort food: risotto. Risotto is extraordinarily versatile (I've developed multiple variations) and perfect for any occasion. For this version, I used Carnaroli rice, which holds its shape better than Arborio rice. For a bit more texture, I mixed in melon-seed macaroni (similar rice-shaped pasta). The combination has a creamy mouthfeel, so no heavy cream is necessary. I colored the dish with sharp yellow Cheddar cheese and served it to all the vegetarians in the house. I think it ended up being a perfect send off for the fruits of our labor.

Fruit Caprese Salad Recipe

Caprese salad is a simple and easy recipe. It consists of stacked slices of buffalo mozzarella, tomatoes and basil, seasoned with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. To mix things up, I made an Asian variation of this salad, adding stone fruit and berries. I drizzled toasted sesame oil and plum vinegar to season the salad.

Unlike berries, this year has been a bummer for the tomatoes in our garden. My husband Lulu has been struggling with the vegetables he planted. Since last year, we've been fighting gophers and rabbits. So to avoid the proliferation of these animals, we decided to install several elevated tomato planters. Unfortunately, this method has attracted all the deer from the neighborhood. They don't eat the fruit, but they do devour all the young sprouts. I managed to gather a few ripe tomatoes and made salads, but there aren't enough to can any tomato sauce this year!

Tomato Risotto Recipe

This version of tomato risotto has a decidedly Indian sensibility. I flavored the rice with tomato chutney as I recently did with an Indian-inspired asparagus pie. The flavors from the chutney are so bold that no other spices and very little salt are needed. I just added chopped sun-dried tomatoes as garnish.

Making risotto takes a little bit of practice to begin with, but once you've worked on your fundamentals, you can start to use the basic recipe and create dozens of different variations. I've stuffed artichokes with risotto, paired pistachio pesto with celery risotto, stuffed it in zucchini flowers, made a roasted beet and ricotta cheese version, and also a rather unconventional risotto with bamboo; the list of adaptations is truly endless.

Baked Stuffed Tomatoes

Rice-stuffed tomatoes are quite easy to make. I made this version with a sun-dried tomato risotto, which I then stuffed inside Brandywine tomatoes. The tomatoes were paired with a vegetable sauce made from the insides of the tomatoes, lemon juice, and a few additional vegetable such as carrots, corn, peas and onions. The sauce was placed at the bottom of the baking pan to help keep the tomatoes from burning.

I topped the tomatoes with a Parmesan shortbread crust and baked them for a few minutes before serving. The result is a fairly light meal with a nice contrast of texture from the crusty top and the creaminess of the rice filling.

Grilled Tomatoes (Simple Barbecue Recipe)

This tomato recipe is simple but so flavorful. I always make it when we barbecue. Unfortunately, this year was horrible for the tomatoes from our garden. Lulu planted two dozen tomato plants. I was so ecstatic about getting sweet, juicy tomatoes, but the gophers killed all our plants. If you have a cure for a gopher infestation, please send me a message. Anyway, since we didn’t have enough from our garden, I bought plum tomatoes from the farmers' market for our 4^th of July barbecue.

Grilling tomatoes only requires skewers, garlic, oil, salt and pepper. To make it more flavorful, I thread the tomatoes onto oregano sprigs. Once the tomatoes are cooked, I drizzle them with shallot vinaigrette. They're best when they're still warm. Yum!