End of Summer Bounty

Last night, I slow-roasted plum tomatoes from the garden for four hours on 215 degrees Fahrenheit after cutting off their stem ends, halving them, and tossing them in some olive oil, sea salt and ground cardamom. After cooling, I refrigerated them for tonight's Slow-roasted Tomato and Basil Pesto Risotto with Herbed Goat Cheese. Here's the recipe:

For the pesto:

1/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. sea salt
2 cloves garlic, peeeled
1 1/2 cups - 2 cups slow-roasted tomatoes as above
2 cups fresh basil leaves
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

In a food processor, blend the first four ingredients til smooth, then add next three ingredients, one at a time, until smooth.

For the risotto:

1 small onion, diced (I recommend doing this in the food processor before you make the pesto if you're making at the same time)
1 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 cup risotto (Arborio rice)
3 cups chicken broth (or a combination of broth and white wine), simmering

2 oz. herbed goat cheese (plain is fine)
3-4 tbsp. slow-roasted tomato & basil pesto, to taste

Melt butter and oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onions & cook for 3 min., stirring. Add risotto, stirring for 2 min. Add one cup of simmering broth to the risotto, stirring until all liquid is absorbed, approximately 5 minutes. Add more simmering (or warm) broth, one cup at a time, stirring until absorbed after each. After all liquid is absorbed (which could take 20 min. or so), remove from heat and stir in 2 tbsp. of pesto. Taste. Add more if you want more flavor. Stir in goat cheese until incorporated. Serve immediately.

I adapted the pesto recipe from Molly Wizenberg's book, A Homemade Life (link in previous post). Using it in the risotto was my own recipe.

Enjoy!

I made these scones based on Molly's recipe, adding turbinado sugar before baking and adding dried cranberries, walnuts, and orange zest to the basic scone recipe. If not eating right out of the oven after a few minutes of cooling, warm for ten minutes in a 300 degree oven. Serve with clotted cream or soft butter or try them plain.