Here’s a recipe for a very hearty, rustic, sun-dried tomato risotto. It has the deepest, darkest tomato flavor that you can imagine. It’s intensely flavorful, which makes serving it with bread and butter a must.
4
servings6
minutes2
hours2
hours6
minutesIngredients
½ cup dry white wine, plus a splash more as needed
½ cup (packed) sun-dried tomatoes (see notes)
4 cups chicken stock
4 tsp olive oil, divided
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 cup Arborio rice
½ tsp granulated garlic
4 tsp dried basil
1 Tbs fresh parsley
1 Tbs butter
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
1¼ tsp salt, or to taste
¼ tsp ground pepper, or to taste
Warm, crusty bread or rolls with soft butter for serving
Directions
- Microwave the wine until it’s very hot or boiling. Pour over the tomatoes, cover, and let rest for 30 minutes. Strain off and reserve the wine. Add more, if necessary, to bring the amount back to ½ cup. Set aside. Chop the tomatoes, then toss them in 1 tsp olive oil. Set aside.
- Bring broth to a bare simmer, then keep warm, covered.
- Pre-heat a 10-inch, cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add remaining 1 Tbs oil, wait a few seconds until it shimmers, and then add onion. Sauté until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add rice and continue to sauté until rice turns translucent, about 2 minutes. Deglaze the pan with reserved wine. Stir in the garlic. Lower the heat to medium.
- Add a ladleful (about ½-cup) of stock and stir casually, but without walking away, until at least half, or at most nearly all, of the liquid has been absorbed.
- Repeat Step 4 until you appear to have about 2-3 remaining additions of stock.
- Add tomatoes, basil, and parsley. Continue repeating Step 4 until you have only one more stock addition remaining.
- The rice should be slightly firm in the center and the onion should have more or less melted into the mixture. Add the final portion of stock, and remove the pan from the burner.
- Vigorously stir in butter and cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste. Ready warmed plates and call your diners to the table as you wait for the risotto to reach the perfect, creamy consistency, then garnish servings with more parsley and serve immediately with bread and butter.
Notes
- Tomato Substitutions: this recipe calls for dry tomatoes, not the type that are packed in oil. If you want to use oil-packed, drain and chop them, and then omit the 1 tsp oil. And of course skip the rehydrating process with the wine.
- Other Substitutions: replace up to 1 cup of the stock with water. Substitute dry vermouth for the wine, carnaroli or vialone nano rice for the Arborio. Two cloves minced fresh garlic for the granulated – in that case, add it with the onion. One-quarter cup chopped fresh basil for the dried.
Social Learning
Serve it as a first course, as a side, or as a main if accompanied by a salad, and of course that crusty bread I already mentioned. A salad with a good vinaigrette would be perfect, since a creamier, heavier dressing might compete with the risotto. Enjoy a glass of the same white wine you used to make the risotto. That’d be a perfect, simple yet elevated dinner.
Cooking:
Cooking the rice in Step 2 is often called “toasting,” and occasionally people will refer to it as “browning,” but cooking the rice until it actually browns goes against tradition. I’ve read that it will make the risotto less creamy.
A cast-iron pan retains heat well. That’s why I stir in the final stock addition off-flame. In a different pan, you might want to do this over lowest heat.
Reheating:
If anyone wants a second helping, you may have to stir in a bit of stock or water to loosen the risotto back up. Reheating it will probably overcook the rice – but not to the point that you won’t nonetheless enjoy it.
Although I like it just fine reheated, it doesn’t freeze well.
General Info:
On the plate, the risotto should be thicker than even the thickest cream-based soup, but not as thick as most bowls of oatmeal, and the grains should be al dente. I’m not sure I completely achieved this, but I was nonetheless not complaining about the way this turned out!
Risotto is a moving target. It will stay at the perfect consistency for only moments at a time.
Sun-Dried Tomato Risotto
Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was it written in exchange for anything. References: this recipe comes from “Dan’s tan box,” but was informed by The Kitchn and The Spruce Eats. Thank you, Kesor. Thank you, ⌘+C. Make It Like a Man! is ranked by Feedspot as #5 in the Top 30 Men’s Cooking Blogs. Did I read that right? Number five? Yes, number five!
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Fun! Great idea!
Thanks, Mimi!
Un vrai délice les risotto
Merci
Thanks!
I want it as a main course, with salad and crusty, rustic bread!
Right? Me too – I think I need to make some more.
This looks great Jeff. Winter is lingering here, so even as we approach summer, a dish like this would still be very welcome.
I wish we were heading back into summer where I live!
Hmmm! Que ça m’a l’air délicieux!
Bonne soirée
https://momogateaux.blogspot.com
Thank you!
Sun dried tomatoes are one of those ingredients that often get overlooked, but they add so much amazing flavor to every dish they touch. For your lovely risotto, I especially love the rich flavors the butter and parmesan bring to the table. Combined with the fabulous texture of the Arborio rice, you’ve created nothing less than a heavenly feast!
Thank you, Heidi!
Another winner Jeff. Love it.
Thank you!
This risotto looks absolutely divine – sun-dried tomatoes being one of my favourites, this is right up my alley!
Thank you, Ben!
Complimenti, un gustosissimo risotto con i pomodori secchi!!!
Thank you!
Love it Jeff! This is such a warm and indulgent dish those deep tomato flavours paired with creamy rice look absolutely irresistible! Love how you’ve made a rustic classic feel both elegant and totally doable.
Thanks, Neil!
Realmente se ve espectacular!! ♥
Thank you!
MMmm, this looks wonderful. I like the white wine addition – I’m convinced it’s so much better for cooking than red. *or both!
Thank you, Tracy. I often feel the same way about red wine.
Muy, muy interesante esta receta que hoy nos dejas. Un abrazo
Thank you!
So if I use the oil-packed tomatoes, then I skip the wine, right? Then what do I do with the wine? Hmmm. Haha. In all seriousness, this sounds delicious. I do love risotto, and I’ve never had a sun-dried tomato version!
It’s rather intense! I loved it, but it was definitely off the beaten risotto path. (I’m sure you’ll find some use for the wine, David!) 🙂
Look delicious.
Thank you!
I haven’t made sun-dried tomato risotto in donkey’s years!! Thank you for the reminder! Yours looks wonderful!
Thank you, Christina!
This looks incredibly comforting, Jeff! Paired with crusty bread and a simple salad, this is exactly the kind of dinner I’d happily settle into at the end of a long day.
Thank you, Raymund!
It looks really good and sun dried tomatoes are rich and flavorful. Great entree. thanks.
You’re welcome!
Sun dried tomatoes are so useful in so many dishes, and I love them in risotto. This is a main meal for me Jeff. A wonderful recipe.
Thank you!
Can’t remember when I last had or made some risotto…this looks so flavourful and moreish.
Thanks, Angie. It’s VERY flavorful!
This sounds amazing, Jeff! Somehow I missed it when it came out, so I’m glad I found it today. We just bought a large supply of arborio rice as it’s time to make risotto at least once a week while the weather is cold.
Thanks, David!