Risotto With Fresh Mozzarella, Grape Tomatoes, and Basil

Name: Risotto With Fresh Mozzarella, Grape Tomatoes, and Basil
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 6 serving(s)
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar; 4 1/2 cups reduced-sodium fat-free chicken broth; 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided; 2 cups chopped leeks; 1 1/2 cups arborio rice or 1 1/2 cups other medium grain rice; 1/3 cup dry white wine; 1/4 cup half-and-half; 1 teaspoon salt; 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper; 1 cup halved grape tomatoes; 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil; 5 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, finely diced

Submitted by Vino Girl

"Cooking Light, September 2007 (first published in December 2003)"

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Ready In:: 1hr
Ingredients:: 12
Serves:: 6

ingredients

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
4 ¹⁄₂ cups reduced-sodium fat-free chicken broth
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
2 cups chopped leeks
1 ¹⁄₂ cups arborio rice or 1 1/2 cups other medium grain rice
¹⁄₃ cup dry white wine
¹⁄₄ cup half-and-half
1 teaspoon salt
¹⁄₄ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 cup halved grape tomatoes
¹⁄₄ cup chopped fresh basil
5 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, finely diced

directions

Place vinegar in a small, heavy saucepan; bring to a boil over medium heat.
Cook until slightly syrupy and reduced to 1 tablespoon (about 4 minutes). Set aside.
Bring broth to a simmer in a medium saucepan (do not boil). Keep warm.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
Add leek to pan; sauté 3 minutes or until tender.
Add rice; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
Stir in wine, and cook 1 minute or until liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly.
Stir in 1 cup broth; cook 5 minutes or until liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly.
Reduce heat to medium.
Add remaining broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly until each portion of broth is absorbed before adding the next (about 25 minutes total).
Stir in half-and-half, salt, and pepper; cook 2 minutes.
Remove from heat; stir in tomatoes, basil, and cheese.
Place about 1 cup risotto into each of 6 shallow serving bowls; drizzle each serving with 1/2 teaspoon balsamic syrup and 1/2 teaspoon oil.

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Reviews

This was AMAZING! :) The flavor profile was very unique and my family loved it! Totally recommend it to any family willing to try something new! :)

FlavorACE
My family absolutely loved this risotto. I'll definitely be making it again, even though it is a lot of work trying to constantly stir it while putting together the rest of the meal. It was still well worth it. I followed the recipe pretty closely. The balsamic vinegar hardened before I came to the step to drizzle it at the end, so I just omitted it completely. And I used onion in place of leek and regular tomato instead of grape, since that's what I had on hand.

Green Cuisine

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

Vino Girl

United States

My husband and I married straight out of college in July of 1992. I work as the Assistant Manager at a wine shop which allows me to drink on the job! (OK, not that much, but it's still a fun job...) Besides helping customers choose wine they will like (and also help with food and wine pairings for their menus), I also get to help with the catering end of the business, so I get to spend a fair amount of time in the kitchen making fun appetizers and beautiful food displays. I also work part-time at the fromagerie next door. So yeah - that means I eat on the job, too. :^D We live on several peaceful wooded acres on a cute little river in rural NE Wisconsin, with a cranky old-lady Burmese and whatever stray outdoor cats that have decided to adopt us on any given day. The cute puppy in the picture is Jake, our Elhew-bred English Pointer that we brought home on Easter weekend 2007. I've also got 2 painted turtles named Dennis and Fuzz, and a bunch of fish (koi and goldfish, along with the guppies & swordtails in the turtle tank). I USUALLY eat and cook healthy, but I rarely pass up dessert, either. I do not eat red meat, and try to limit other animal products, too. I love to bake, although I seem to collect a lot of scone and biscotti recipes which I NEVER get around to making. I bake and eat A LOT of cookies and muffins... I almost always reduce the sugar by 1/4 and use whole wheat pastry flour for at least part of the flour. Those two changes do so much to make recipes healthier without compromising taste. I try to reduce fat whenever I can, too, but while I want to eat healthy, I still want to ENJOY what I eat!!! I seem to give a lot of 4 and 5 star reviews here - I seem to have a pretty good sense of what I like by looking at a recipe before I try it. Thank you to anyone that tries my recipes in return, or photographs them. Amber: <img src="http://netnet.net/~mkburie/amber2.jpg"> ........And a grown up Jake (one year old in January 2008) :) - <img src="http://netnet.net/~mkburie/JAKE111307.JPG"> Charlotte (May 27, 1992-June 1, 2009): <img src="http://netnet.net/~mkburie/Charlott.jpg"> Ashley: Adopted October 8, 1996 - Passed Away January 6, 2009 <img src="http://netnet.net/~mkburie/ashley2.jpg"> Mike: September 26, 1994 - March 19, 2004<img src="http://netnet.net/~mkburie/mike1997-lr.JPG">.... <a href='http://www.niftymaps.com/visitor-map.php?id=36321'><img src='http://i.niftymaps.com/36321.png' alt='Click to zoom in on my visitor map!' border='0'></a>Create your free world <a href='http://www.niftymaps.com/' target='_blank'>visitor maps</a>

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