tomato and corn risotto

i picked up those beauties at a roadside farm stand on the way home from work. you know the kind - with a piece of two by four holding up the awning and a locked cash box for your honor system payment. is it like this everywhere? can you pull over and buy that whole bowl of tomatoes for a measly dollar? and four corns for a dollar more? or are you stuck waiting until your farmer's market? or maybe you're lucky and your farmer's market is more frequent than once a week.

we had a cold, rainy week in mid-august. the kind of week where, for a split second, you wonder if summer is already over, it's time to get out the fall sweaters and buy halloween candy (which has already showed up in wegmans and walmart). but it's a fluke. a weird low-70s week bordered by hot, humid, mid-90s weather.

to feed my need for fall, i picked up those gorgeous sweet as candy low acid tomatoes  and the corn and tossed them with a good handful of my own baby romas. and made risotto.

the perfect creamy summer risotto. the tomatoes cook down just to wilt them so they still have body and don't melt into the pasta. and the sweet crunch from the corn is perfect.

it's hard to imagine, but i bet some of you are getting tomatoed out. corned out. in need of something new. try fresh peas or zucchini. or potatoes. even leeks! yes, leeks! toss in whatever vegetable combination sounds good to you and make it your own.

...and what to do with leftovers? make risotto cakes, of course!

into risotto but aren't digging the tomato corn combo? check out three cheese risotto, risotto with bacon, peas, and leeks and gruyere risotto with mushrooms.

summer tomato and corn risotto

adapted from styleandsyntax.com

45 minutes, makes 4 hearty servings (or 2 servings and 4 risotto cakes)

5 shallots, minced

2 cobs worth of cooked, leftover corn cut off the cob

1 1/2 cups arborio rice

4 cups vegetable stock

2 cups water

1/2 pint yellow grape tomatoes, halved

1/2 pint baby roma tomatoes, halved or quartered

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

salt, pepper, olive oil

1. coat the bottom of a large dutch oven with olive oil and warm on medium. add the shallots and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
2. in a separate pan, heat the vegetable stock and water to a simmer.
3. in a bowl, drizzle the tomatoes with olive oil, and season with salt, pepper, and thyme. set aside.
4. when the shallots are cooked, mix in the rice. stir to ensure all the rice is coated with oil.
5. add a ladle (about a cup) of the stock/water mixture to the rice and stir. cook the rice until the liquid is absorbed, stirring occasionally. add another ladle of stock/water and cook until absorbed. continue until about 2/3 of the stock/water has been used.
6. stir the corn into the rice. continue adding the stock/water and cooking until absorbed, until all stock/water has been used.
7. mix in the tomatoes, remove from heat, and cover. let sit a good five minutes.
8. uncover and stir in the parmesan.