Google: “The naming of the celebration as “Easter” seems to go back to the name of a pre-Christian goddess in England, Eostre, who was celebrated at beginning of spring. The only reference to this goddess comes from the writings of the Venerable Bede, a British monk who lived in the late seventh and early eighth century.”  

Easter is very important Christian celebration of the church year, the majority of the food commonly eaten on that Sunday is symbolic in the utmost.

Instead of Easter eggs, hot cross bun, roast lamb or glazed ham to serve family members. I have decided to do something much cheaper, less hassle in the kitchen and simple meal. Using mushrooms, tomato and cherry tomatoes as they will expire in 3 and 5 days’ time.

My tomato risotto with caramelised mushrooms is delicious, beautiful, creamy and colourful. Serve with salads and a glass of red wine. Let’s cook!!!!

Ingredients

8 cherry tomatoes
1 plum tomato
450 ml water
200g arborio rice
5 Tbs cherry tomatoes whole with sauce, canned
1 Tbs margarine, extra
1 Tbs oil
2 Tsp minced garlic
1 Tsp dried oregano
Dashes of Italian Seasoning
a pinch of nutmeg
water
salt
black pepper

Caramelised mushrooms

200 g sliced mushrooms
1 Tbs garlic minced
1 Tsp dried oregano
2 Tbs cream
1 Tbs red wine
1 Tbs margarine
oil
salt
black pepper

Garnish

3 coloured cherry tomatoes, cut into bite size

Method

Blend tomato, cherry tomatoes with 4 Tbs water. Set aside. Heat oil and margarine in a pot on medium heat. Add garlic cook for about 2 minutes until slightly brown. Add cherry tomatoes mixture, oregano, Italian seasoning, nutmeg, salt and pepper cook for 1 minute.

Add arborio rice, stir mixed to get flavoured about 1 minute. Ladle a ladle of water in. Stir to prevent sticking at the bottom. When water is absorbed, add another ladle, let’s simmer and give a stir or two. Repeat adding water till rice cooked for about 15-20 minutes until rice is al dente; the right consistency. Got to be patience. Only Love can make risotto delicious, comforting and enjoyable for your soul.

Meantime, heat a pan with oil and margarine on high heat. Let the margarine and oil be bubbling frothy. Cook the mushrooms a handful at a time. Don’t add the next handful until the first has browned and there’s no liquid left in the bottom of the pan.

If the mushrooms release a lot of liquid in the pan, just keep cooking. You can cook all the mushrooms at one time, but with a lot of mushrooms will lower the temperature of the pan, you’ll end up with a lot of liquid in the pan. If this happens, just continue cooking the mushrooms until the water simmers away. Some liquid will evaporate, and some gets reabsorbed into the mushrooms, which gives the mushrooms a rich flavour even though they were never actually sautéed.

Continue cooking until the mushrooms are well browned and there’s no liquid left in the pan. Add cream and wine while the heat is still on high; keep stirring to scrape up the browned mushroom juices until the liquid has thickened. Now add minced garlic and oregano. Cook for another minute or two, tossing to coat the mushrooms evenly. Season with salt and pepper and set aside cover with foil until needed.

Now switch off hob for tomato risotto. Add cheese and stir to mix well. Add 1 Tbs margarine, stir to incorporate. Check seasoning. Spoon onto warm plate. Garnish with cut cherry tomatoes and caramelised mushrooms.

Note: You can use just tomatoes only. I add tomato to cherry tomatoes as I don’t want to waste the 1 leftover tomato. You can use butter instead of margarine. You can use only oil. Instead of garlic you can use onion. Also, if you have fresh oregano use them. Any herbs of your choice: parsley or basil.

If you like my latest creation: sweet savoury risotto look at my Blueberry risotto with bacon, spinach and arugula. Recipe is attached at the bottom. For Mediterranean risotto and many more in my website attached at the bottom too. Or the plain Tomato risotto is attached too.

https://helenscchin.com/2021/03/29/tomato-risotto-with-caramelised-mushrooms/

Tomato risotto recipe: https://helenscchin.com/2021/02/09/tomato-risotto/

Blueberry risotto with bacon, spinach and arugula recipe: https://helenscchin.com/2021/02/01/blueberry-risotto-with-bacon-spinach-and-arugula/

For Mediterranean risotto recipe: https://helenscchin.com/2019/07/09/mediterranean-vegetarian-risotto/

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