At TarraWarra Estate in Victoria’s Yarra Valley, head chef Mark Ebbels’s food is invigorating and unpredictable – much like the contemporary art at the TarraWarra Museum of Art next door. Ebbels was raised on a vegetable farm and is a proponent of a plant-based diet. His recipe for tomato risotto switches out the dairy for cashew butter.
“The inspiration for this risotto comes from the very traditional combination of tomato and basil, but just slightly changes the delivery of flavour,” says Ebbels. “This dish reflects the ethos that 'Whatever is growing is what's going' – this plate is a reflection of the abundance of tomatoes.
“The garden represents the soul of the kitchen.”
TarraWarra Estate’s Tomato Risotto
Serves 4
Cooking time: 1 hour
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
Basil oil garnish
500g basil leaves (no stems)
Grapeseed oil
Iced water
Tomato stock
2500g large red tomatoes
500g tomato paste
100g grapeseed oil
1600g vegetable stock
Risotto rice base
300g Carnaroli rice
50g grapeseed oil
45g shallots, diced
10g garlic, chopped
240g white wine
900g vegetable stock
To serve
2 cups tomato stock
Risotto rice base
250g Botanical Cuisine Cultured Cashew Butter
Lemon juice to season
Salt to season
Basil oil
Semi-dried tomatoes, sliced into small pieces to garnish
Cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters to garnish
3–4 marjoram leaves
Method:
For the basil-oil garnish, blanch the greens in boiling water for 5 to 10 seconds. Scoop them out and refresh in ice water immediately, then wring all of the water out of the chilled herbs with a tea towel. Weigh the blanched herbs then weigh out double that weight of grapeseed oil into a separate container. Blend the blanched herbs and grapeseed oil thoroughly. Set aside.
For the tomato stock, set your oven as high as it goes (at TarraWarra it’s set at 250°C). Once the oven is hot, roast the tomatoes for about 20 minutes until they soften then pass them through a fine sieve to remove the seeds and skin. Heat the tomato paste with the grapeseed oil in a large pot for about 10 minutes over medium heat.
Add the roasted tomato liquid and vegetable stock then bring to a simmer and blend together. Chill and reserve until you want to serve the risotto.
To make the risotto base, warm the vegetable stock in a pot and in another pan toast the rice in the grapeseed oil until fragrant. Add the shallots and garlic to the toasted rice and cook for a few minutes to soften them. Add the wine and reduce until it has almost completely evaporated and then add vegetable stock a little at a time, stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.
To test if the rice is cooked, bite a grain in half and there should still be a tiny white bit in the centre (you may not need to use all the vegetable stock, it depends on the size of your pan and the heat of your stove top). Reserve rice in the fridge until needed.
To serve, warm 2 cups of the tomato stock in a medium pot, add the pre-cooked risotto rice and bring to a simmer, adjust the consistency with more tomato stock. Remove from the heat and mix in the cashew butter. The quantity of stock and cashew butter is a personal preference – if you want the dish creamy, add a lot of extra stock and butter.
Season with salt and lemon juice, then transfer to plates.
Garnish with the basil oil, semi-dried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and a few marjoram leaves. Serve immediately.
