Burnt spring onion risotto with smoky tomato salsa
- Published: 11 Apr 23
- Updated: 18 Mar 24
This rich and creamy vegetarian risotto is brightened and cut with fiery sweetness and smoky flavours, thanks to charred spring onions and a fresh tomato salsa.
Browse 60+ more risotto recipes, including plenty of veggie and vegan ideas.
Ingredients
- Vegetable oil to fry
- 20g unsalted butter
- 5 garlic cloves
- 2 bunches spring onions
- 300g risotto rice
- 200ml white wine
- 700ml vegetable stock, warmed
- 100g cherry tomatoes
- ½ red chilli
- ½ red onion, separated into petals (see tips)
- 100g mascarpone
- Juice ¼ lime
- ½ tsp sugar
- 1 tsp red wine vinegar
Method
- Heat a dash of oil and the butter in a medium saucepan. Finely slice 4 of the garlic cloves (leave the remaining one unpeeled) and half the spring onions. Add both to the pan and cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Add the risotto rice to the pan, stir for 1 minute, then pour in the wine and simmer until all the liquid has evaporated/been absorbed by the rice. Add a ladle of warm stock, letting the rice absorb the stock before adding another and stirring regularly throughout.
- Meanwhile, put a large frying pan over a high heat and add the second bunch of spring onions (halved to fit in the pan if needed) with a tiny drizzle of oil. Leave to fry undisturbed until charred black on one side. Turn them over and char on the other side, then set aside to cool. Add the cherry tomatoes, chilli, remaining unpeeled garlic clove and onion petals to the pan, then cook until blackened all over.
- Roughly chop the charred spring onions and put in a blender or food processor with the mascarpone. Whizz until combined and quite smooth. Once the risotto is cooked, season with salt, pepper and the lime juice, then gently stir in the mascarpone. Put a lid on the pan and leave to sit for 5 minutes.
- Peel the charred garlic clove, then whizz it up with the charred tomatoes, red onion petals, sugar and vinegar. Divide the risotto among bowls, adding a dollop of the smoky tomato salsa on top.
- Recipe from May 2023 Issue
Nutrition
- Calories
- 557kcals
- Fat
- 22.2g (10.9g saturated)
- Protein
- 7.9g
- Carbohydrates
- 70.7g (9.1g sugars)
- Fibre
- 3.5g
- Salt
- 0.2g
delicious. tips
To separate an onion into petals, you’ll need your half onion to be halved through the root. You then chop off the tip, peel the onion and separate the petal-like layers.
Burning spring onions – and most alliums, for that matter – doesn’t leave you with a bitter taste like most burnt foods. Instead, it unlocks a smoky sweetness that works wonders in all sorts of dishes; in this instance it helps to cut through the richness of the mascarpone, giving it a sour cream and onion vibe.
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This was really tasty and a great addition to my vegetarain repatoire, the tomato salsa was a great addition but would also work well with other dishes too.