Risotto sort of "Caprese"

One of my favourite dishes is “insalata caprese”, this perfect mixture of flavours and textures that in my view is so typical of Italian cuisine. A few weeks ago, in summer, I was in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, where the cherry tomatoes were ripe and fresh off the bush, and I came across this dish, which I have tried to recreate. It combines elements of insalata caprese with a rich risotto.

A former neighbour of ours was Italian and she once made a risotto in a high-walled frying pan at 11:30 pm, as a midnight snack. I was amazed at how little time this took. In this recipe I have used one too, partly because it works well for the final cooking part…

What you need

• 350 g risotto rice (for example Arborio)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium-sized onion finely chopped
• 100 ml of good white wine
• vegetable broth
• 2+ cloves of garlic
• grated parmesan cheese to taste (not pictured)
• about 20 ripe cherry tomatoes (or thickly sliced marzano tomatoes as I had no cherries)
• 200 g buffalo mozzarella, finely sliced
• 2 good sprigs of basil cut into fine stripes
• a drizzle of dry sherry (optional)
• Cheese spice mix (optional)

What you do

1. Sauté the onions in olive oil, then add the rice and stir until it looks glassy. (Do not let it brown!)
2. Add the wine and stir, then slowly add the broth as and when needed. If you like a creamy risotto, stir as much as you can; if you prefer a more grainy one, stir as little as possible.
3. Just before the end of the cooking period (when the rice grains are not hard in the centre anymore), press in the garlic; this way it retains its pungency.
4. When the risotto is done, dent the surface and put a cherry tomato into each dent.
5. Distribute the mozzarella over the top and season with the cheese spice mix (if using).
6. Put under the grill until the mozzarella has melted or even browned ever so slightly.
7. Drizzle the sherry over the bits of rice that are still visible if it has dried out under the grill.
8. At the very last minute before serving, add the basil leaves.