Baked Tomato stuffed with Risotto

* original receipe from Raymond Blanc

Serves 4.
prepartion + cooking time: approx 2 hrs

Ingredients:
4 large ripe beef tomato (if not available in market, just choose some bigger and wider tomato)
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
fresh chives, finely chopped, to garnish

For the tomato sauce:
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 sprigs of fresh thymes
3 tbsp olive oil
4 ripe tomatoes, chopped
100g (4oz) tomato puree
400ml (14fl oz) water
sugar, salt and pepper to season

For the risotto stuffing:
1 small onion, finely chopped
20g unsalted butter
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
100g (4oz) long grain rice, washed and drained
200ml  (7 fl oz) water
30g or 1 small carrot, finely chopped
30g or 1 small courgette, finely chopped
30g peas
2 tbsp whipping cream
75g Gruyere cheese, finely grated
salt and pepper to season

How to make:

Making the tomato sauce:
1. On a low heat in a medium saucepan, soften the onion, garlic and thymes for 2-3 min with olive oil.

2. Add the chopped tomatoes and the tomato puree and cook on medium heat for 7-8 min, until tomatoes have cooked down.

3. Add water, season with sugar, salt and pepper to the taste you desire and cook for a further 5 min.

4. Puree the sauce in a blender and strain through a sieve. (those tomatoes remaining on the sieve are best used as pasta sauce and cook with minced beef and no food is wasted!)

5. Those sauce drained from the seive is very smooth - set aside for later use.

Preparing the Beef Tomato:
1. Clean the tomato and wipe dry. (better to retain the star shaped green item on top)

2. Slice about 1/4 off the top of each tomato to make a hat and set it aside.

3. With a spoon or the special knife to cut orange nectar, scoop out the pulp and juices from the tomatoes into a bowl and set aside.

Making the Risotto Stuffing:
1. On a medium heat in a medium saucepan, soften the onion and thyme leaves and bay leaf with the butter for approx 3 mins, without letting it color.

2. Stir in rice and cook for 1 min so that rice all coat with butter, onion, etc.

3. Add water and carrot and apprpx 150ml (1/4 pint) of the tomato pulp and juices you extracted earlier and bring to boil.

4. Season with salt and pepper and simmer for 5 min, stirring from time to time.

5. Add courgette and peas for cook for another 15 mins until risotto rice is al dente or soft enough to your liking. Check water all the time. If not enough, add hot water little by little.

6. Correct tastings if necessary, then add cream and the grated cheese and mix well.

Stuffing and cooking the Tomato:
1. Preheat over to 180'C.

2. Divide the risotto between the tomatoes, stuffed them with a spoon and top each of them with the tomato hat.

3. Place them in a baking tray, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and bake for 20 min.

To servce:
1. Reheat the tomato sauce and spoon them into the base of the plate/bowl.

2. Place the baked tomato in the centre.

3. Granish chopped chives around with a dash of extra virgin olive oil.

ENJOY~

Summer Vegetables Risotto

* original recipe from Raymond Blanc

Ingredients:

For the risotto base
2tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 onion, finely chopped
1/2 garlic clove, crushed
200g carnaroli rice
300ml hot water
4 pinches of sea salt
2 pinches of white pepper
300-400ml fresh tomato essence (see previous recipe on how to make this)

To finish the risotto
1/2 small fennel bulb, finely chopped (optional)
1 courgette, diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced, and blanched for 1 min
100g peas (defrost if using frozen ones)
20g parmesan cheese, finely grated
2tbsp mascarpone cheese
10 cherry tomatoes, halved
4 black olives (optional)

to garnish:
2 tbsp mascarpone cheese (optional)
baby salad leaves (optional)
ground black pepper

How to make:

To cook the risotto
1. Heat extra virgin olive oil in saucepan over low heat and sweat onion and garlic until soft.
2. Stir in rice and cook over medium heat for 2 min until grains appear shinny.
3. Stir in all the hot water and bring to gentle simmer and season with salt and pepper.
4.Cover and cook gently until all water has been absorbed.
5. Add 3/4 of the tomato essence and continue to barely simmer, covered, with one 'single' bubble breaking ths surface, until the eseence has been absorbed. There is no need to stir the risotto constantly at this moment,

To finish the risotto
1. Add remaining tomato essence, all of the vegetables and the cheese.
2. Cook the risotto, briskly sirring, for 5 min or until rice is al dente to you The vigorous stirring of the ric enow will help it cook evenly.
3. When it's ready, add the cherry tomatos and mix well.
4. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary, sprinkle freshly grated parmesan cheese on top is also great!

* any summer vegetables can be added or substituted to vary textrues and flavour.

Enjoy~

Lemon & Poppy Seed Cake

Ingredients:-
175g butter - at room temperature
2 lemons - finely grate the zest
175g caster sugar
3 eggs - at room temperature
1tsp vanilla essence
225g self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder
2 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp milk
2tbsp poppy seeds

How to make:
1. Preheat oven to 180'C. Grease cake tin with some butter.

2. Mix butter with sugar with electric whisk until fluffy, then add eggs, milk, vanilla essence, salt and mix well.

3. Sieve self-raising flour and baking powder to egg mixture and fold well with a spectular.

4. Add lemon zest and poppy seeds and mix well .

5. Pour mixture into cake tin and bake for 45 min. To test if the cake is ready, place a skewer inside cake and if comes out clean, then it's ready.

Option:
If you prefer a more "lemon"/ sour taste, you can finish the cake by preparing a sauce and sppon onto cake:
* juice from the 2 lemons above,
* some lemon zest
* 4tbsp sugar
-> mix the above well and spoon onto cake. Leave to cool completely. The lemon and sugar will harden to a zingy, crystallised crust.

ENJOY~