Recipes

Caramelized Onion Risotto with Oven Roasted Tomatoes

By
Anna Olson

Published: 

This dish is a nice reminder that Italian pastas and risottos tend to keep it simple: focus on one key flavour and one secondary element. The simplicity of naturally sweet caramelized onions pairs well with the concentrated flavour of roasted tomatoes.

Logo for 'The Good Stuff with Mary Berg,' featuring the title in orange and white text on a teal background
The Good Stuff with Mary Berg logo
Portions
Serves 6

Ingredients

For Oven Roasted Tomatoes:

  • 6 plum tomatoes
  • 1 ½ tsp fine salt
  • 1 Tbsp sugar

For Risotto:

  • 4 Tbsp vegetable oil                     
  • 4 onions, small dice     
  • 1 ½ cups Arborio rice                  
  • ½ cup white wine          
  • 5 cups chicken stock                   
  • 2 Tbsp chopped parsley
  • 2 Tbsp unsalted butter                
  • ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese            
  • coarse salt and ground black pepper

Directions

  1. To roast the tomatoes, preheat oven to 250 °F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Core tomatoes and cut into 6 wedges. Toss in the salt and sugar and lay them skin-side down, on the prepared pan. Roast the tomatoes for 1 ½ to 2 hours, until they are shrivelled and about half the original size. The tomatoes will keep in the fridge for up to 1 week or frozen for 2 months.
  2. For the risotto, heat the vegetable oil in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepot and cook down the onions over medium heat, stirring often, until they have caramelized and taken on a rich brown color - this will take around 25 minutes. Add the rice and stir to coat it with oil, cooking for 3 minutes. Add white wine and stir until the rice has absorbed all liquid.  Add stock, 1 cup (250 mL) at a time, stirring regularly until each portion of stock has been absorbed.  Test the rice for doneness by tasting - the grains should be tender but still have a little resilience.
  3. To finish, warm the roasted tomatoes in a separate pan for 5 minutes over medium heat and reserve. Add the parsley, butter and cheese to the risotto and season to taste. There should be enough liquid to be a built-in sauce, but the dish should not appear “soupy.”  Serve in shallow bowls and top with the warmed roasted tomatoes.