Roasted Tomato, Prawn and Fennel Risotto

Ingredient

500g cherry tomatoes on the vine
4 cloves garlic, peeled, halved
1/3 cup (80ml) Red Island olive oil
4 cups low salt chicken stock
1 brown onion, diced
1 cup Arborio rice
1/3 cup dry white wine
40g butter, diced
30g Parmesan cheese, grated from a block, plus extra to serve
300g peeled green/raw Australian king prawns
1 bunch basil, leaves picked
Cracked black pepper to serve
2 bulbs baby fennel, thinly sliced
Zest and juice of 1 lemon

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Toss the tomatoes in a bowl with the garlic and half the oil. Place on a lined oven tray and cook for 25 minutes, or until wrinkled and split.

Place the roasted tomatoes and garlic in a blender along with the chicken stock and blend until smooth.

Heat the remaining oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent. Add the rice and stir for 2 minutes to coat the rice in oil and you can hear it `singing`. Add the wine and cook off until it has nearly evaporated. Pour in ½ cups of the tomato stock into the rice in batches, stirring in between, until all the stock has been soaked up by the rice (this should take about 20 minutes). Add in the prawns and cook for 2 minutes, or until they are just cooked through. Stir through the butter and Parmesan cheese and check for seasoning.

Toss the fennel with lemon juice, zest, oil and salt.

Top the risotto with dressed shaved fennel, basil leaves and extra black.

Recipe by Courtney Roulston