This recipe works brilliantly when summer tomatoes are at their ripest (and most abundant). The key to maintaining the fresh flavours is to add the raw tomatoes right at the end of the cooking – and try not to scrounge too much on the quantity of tomatoes!

(the ingredients below are per person)

Peel and deseed 250g ripe tomatoes, straining the seeds and juice through a sieve into a bowl. Dice the tomatoes, sprinkle with sea salt and place in the sieve over the same bowl. Let the juices drip through (this will take about an hour), occasionally delicately stir the diced tomatoes to release more juice.

Heat 1 tsp olive oil in a pan, add a quarter peeled red onion, finely chopped and stir till softened. Add 1 small finely chopped garlic clove and stir again. Now add around 1/3 cup (70g) carnaroli or arborio rice and stir for a couple of minutes. Add a ¼ cup white wine and let reduce completely. Now start adding some of the tomato juice, little by little till the liquid gets absorbed. When you have run out of the juice start adding vegetable or chicken stock which has been kept simmering on the stove (you will need about ½ cup).

When the rice is nearly done (i.e. al dente – so with still a bite to the grains of rice), turn off the heat, add the chopped tomatoes, and a handful of grated parmesan. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes. 

Serve sprinkled with a handful of small basil leaves and some freshly ground pepper.

Optional: a few flakes of chilli pepper and/or 1 tbs of thick cream or marscapone can be added with the tomatoes.

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