Risotto with cherry tomatoes and anchovy colatura
Risotto with cherry tomatoes and anchovy colatura combines two perfectly balanced flavours in a delicious combination. The anchovy colatura brings its characteristic savouriness that is combined with the delicacy of the Tomolo cherry tomatoes. The result is a healthy, tasty and balanced dish that will surprise you with its intensity and goodness.
Let's find out how to make a risotto with Tomolo cherry tomatoes and colatura di alici di Cetara.
To make a really tasty risotto with cherry tomatoes and colatura di alici di Cetara, all it takes is a few simple steps. First let's look at all the ingredients to create this tasty recipe:
- 320 g artisanal Baldo rice
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 400 g whole cherry tomatoes from the Lattari mountains
- 1/2 glass of Coda di Volpe Irpino white wine
- 4 tablespoons of Cetara anchovy colatura
- 4 cups of hot vegetable stock
- 40 g butter
- 60 g grated Parmesan cheese
- Fior di sale di Trapani q.b
- Pepper to taste
Preparation
- In a large saucepan, sauté the chopped onion and garlic in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until soft.
- Add the Tomolo tomatoes cut in half and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the rice and toast it for 2 minutes, then deglaze with the white wine and let it evaporate.
- Start adding the hot stock by spoonfuls, continuing to stir the risotto until it is cooked but still al dente (about 18 minutes).
- With the heat off, add the anchovy drippings, butter and grated Parmesan cheese and mix well.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.
Anchovy colatura: Processing and maturing, a long technique
The anchovies are placed in a small barrel, the terzigno, and arranged in the classic 'head-to-tail' technique with alternating layers of salt and pressed by a wooden disc on which weights are placed.
The liquid secreted by the anchovies as they mature, begins to rise to the surface, is collected in large glass bottles and exposed to the sun for about four or five months, so that the water evaporates and the concentration increases.
Between the end of October and the beginning of November, everything is ready for the last stage, the tapping, which usually takes at least three years.
The collected liquid is poured back into the terzigno where the anchovies have been left to mature, slowly dripping through the various layers of the fish, gathering the best of their organoleptic characteristics.
The liquid recovered through a specially drilled hole in the terzigno is transferred to another vessel and filtered through the use of linen cloths, called cappucci.
The end result is a clear distillate with a deep amber, almost mahogany-brown colour and a strong, full-bodied flavour.
To preserve these techniques and to certify the uniqueness of the product, in October 2020, the PDO mark was officially recognised to the colatura di alici di Cetara.
Colatura is also the traditional dressing for spaghetti with clams, as well as for bruschetta, Christmas broccoli and boiled or grilled vegetables.
