Yet ANOTHER Risotto!!

This past week has been totally overwhelming! So so so many last minute things to do, totally terrible weather, and treats treats and more treats! Seriously...if I don't fit into my dress it is all down to the coffees, cakes, potato chips and lovely food I have been treated to over the two weeks my mum has been here (I love you mummy!)

Not only have I been treated to all those BOUGHT goodies...but David and I have also been devouring quite a few wonderful home cooked meals a la mummy, rightly deserved with the big day coming up don't you think?? 

It was my turn in the kitchen last night...after a long and exciting day visiting the gorgeous city of Norwich...

We'd bought a whole heap of grape tomatoes at the market earlier in the week so I thought I would try my hand at a Jamie Oliver recipe I've been meaning to try...something that I was sure I could manage after a day of travelling...but something new to all of us. 

I feel like I have been making risotto constantly over the last couple of weeks...but seriously, it is so so so good and so so so easy! I'd passed over Jamie Oliver's recipe for TOMATO RISOTTO for a while, I just wasn't sure about a risotto relying purely on tomatoes...but the other night when mum treated us to a fantastic Italian meal out she ordered a risotto that ended up having chopped tomatoes running through it!! Inspired by her restaurant risotto and remembering Jamie's recipe I thought...what the heck! Let's just go for it!

Having halved the sweet little grape tomatoes and marinated them in a splash of balsamic vinegar (Jamie calls for red wine vinegar....not a staple in my pantry) and oil I started second guessing my choice.  I was not too sure about the addition of balsamic vinegar (or any vinegar) into a soft and creamy risotto...but I plowed on!  You add about 2/3rds of the tomatoes when adding the stock, so they cook down quite a bit over the AGES this specific risotto seemed to take to cook.  At the end, the rest of the tomatoes and their marinating juices are added...along with a huge handful of parmesan...and (the selling point) RICOTTA cheese for added creaminess!!!  In Jamie's recipe he calls for crumbly ricotta, which you bake in the oven with some chili flakes...but I just couldn't find that in little old Chelmsford...in the end I was actually more happy to "settle" for smooth ricotta and had added chili flakes when sweating the onions.  Writing all this down makes me realise that I actually adapted this recipe quite a bit...making it my own!

And so...here it is...

MY TOMATO RICOTTA RISOTTO