Lazy tomato risotto and eggplant with cumin and honey

Risotto is one of my favorite recipes for those days when I have time. I also love to prepare risotto when I host friends at home or if I have a date! I think this recipe, in particular, will win anyone over!

Risotto is usually served as the main dish, precisely because it takes a while to make and should be served immediately. However, since in this case, the tomatoes will serve as both flavor and broth at the same time, our risotto is made much faster. Therefore, I call this risotto "lazy woman's risotto".

The idea of serving it with eggplant is to give a contrast of flavors. By the way, this is the charm of this dish and what makes it so delicious!

Well, I hope you enjoy this recipe and make it at home!

Ingredients (recipe for 1 person)

For the risotto

1 cup of canaroli rice
½ onion, chopped
4 tomatoes, chopped
2 cloves of garlic
olive oil
1 pinch of sugar
salt to taste
olives to taste
basil leaves to taste

For the eggplant

1 eggplant cut into half-moons
½ onion, chopped
salt
olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon honey

Preparation

My suggestion is that you start by cutting the eggplant into a half-moon shape. Next, place the slices in a sieve with plenty of salt and set aside for about 30 minutes. This process will cause the eggplant to dry out a bit and become crispier after sautéing.

While the eggplants are resting it is time to make the sauce, which will serve as the stock for our risotto. Take a blender and beat 1 clove of garlic, then add the four chopped tomatoes. At the end add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Do not add salt at this point, because as the sauce will cook with the risotto it is likely to get some acidity, so we will correct this during cooking, using sugar and salt.

Time to prepare the eggplant! Place a generous amount of olive oil in a pan with ½ onion, chopped. Add the eggplants. As soon as they saute well, add the cumin and turn off the heat. Then add 1 tablespoon of honey on top and let it caramelize in the heat of the pan.

Finally we will make the risotto, which is super easy! Saute in a pan ½ onion and 1 cup of canaroli rice. Gradually add the tomato sauce that has already been prepared. The idea is that the sauce will cook together with the tomatoes. The secret of every risotto is to stir well. So you can start preparing your arms!

Keep stirring and as the sauce dries out you will add more. The idea is that the rice and sauce get a creamy consistency. You will notice that while cooking, this risotto will become a little more acidic. Add a pinch of sugar to cut the excessive acidity and add salt to taste. The rice should always be "al dente".

Before serving add the olives and the chopped basil leaves.

All done! It's time to taste! The magic of this dish is that it contrasts the bitterness of the eggplant, with the sweetness of the honey, and the acidity of the risotto! I think this combination of flavors is simply amazing!

I hope you enjoy the recipe and try it at home!

*PS: I'm learning how to take good food photos, so I'd love to hear some criticism and suggestions about the photos in this post. Are they good? How can I improve? Thanks for sharing your opinion! *