Something truly magical happens when you cook risotto in the oven. Suddenly you are granted time that you never used to have – you might even find yourself on the couch reading a book, something that could never be possible while you’re tending to a stovetop risotto. This Oven Baked Nightshade Risotto is a recipe that I lean on so frequently in this house, it’s become a permanent resident in my recipe rotation! Creamy, indulgence risotto rice is flavored with a bold tomato broth and tender roasted peppers and eggplants. It’s great as a side dish or as a light main meal.
Why Baking Your Rice Is The Best Method
There are so many ways to cook rice. Steaming, boiling, parboiling, cooking in a rice cooker, baking etc. I have in fact tried all of these methods to cook rice. I love rice! But one method has always come out on top -baking!
I love baking my rice for all of these reasons:
It’s hands off-you add in the ingredients, give it a stir, cover and bake. That’s it!
You can cook the rice with other ingredients. Also doable in a rice cooker, but I love the surface area I can work with in a baking dish.
It’s literally fool-proof. I have never messed up rice using this method. It’s perfect every time and I love the reliability of that!
Oven baked rice enjoys the convenience, consistency and volume that is perfect for meal prep and family meals as well. When our rice cooker broke, baking rice was the easiest alternative, even compared to stove top rice!
Oven Baked Risotto
Now take that oven baking method and try a different rice- arborio rice!
You get the most delicate grains, cooked down gently by the low and slow method, resulting in tender grains of rice that are not bloated with moisture, not split, but still have enough creaminess to them that you can call a true risotto!
This replaces the traditional method of standing over the stove and ladling in hot stock one cup after another while the rice cooks for 20 minutes or so. This hands off method is really the only one I use to make risotto at home.
Not to say that there isn’t a place for traditional risotto (of course there is) but when I’m craving risotto but not craving the labor, I lean on this recipe!
The secret to getting deep vegetable flavors
What gives this risotto all of its flavor is the technique! Cooking down the peppers, eggplant, onions and garlic until they are sweet and tender first before baking them into the rice helps to do two things: reduce moisture and deepen flavor!
We want to make sure we are sweating out some of the moisture from the vegetables before adding it to the rice, so the risotto is not too watery.
We also want to help sweeten the peppers and onions so they do not impart such a raw taste into the rice while baking. Cooking them in olive oil over medium heat brings out the natural sugars that help caramelize food and break down the cellular structure to yield a more tender veg. This step is important as it helps to really mellow out the flavor!
Tips For Making The Best Oven Baked Risotto
Low and slow: bake your rice at 350F for 30 minutes. Don’t try to increase the heat and shorten the cooking time, rice is just finicky like that!
Choose low moisture vegetables, or sweat out high moisture ones. Peas, beans, mushrooms and sundried tomatoes are all great risotto flavors! If using higher moisture veg like eggplant or zucchini, sweat them out first to remove excess moisture.
Stir in the butter and cheese after baking. This will make the rice super creamy and luxurious. It doesn’t do much to add them in while baking, so save these ingredients for last!
Tightly wrap with foil. Cover the top of the baking dish with heavy duty foil. I double wrap mine to create a really solid seal. This traps the steam in the dish and yields perfectly cooked rice every time.
Oven Baked Nightshade Risotto Recipe
EQUIPMENT
- 1 9″13″ baking dish – preferably ceramic
INGREDIENTS
- 1 generous cup arborio rice
- 3 cups hot vegetable stock or water
- ½ cup dry white wine, like a Chardonnay
- 1 Chinese eggplant or 1/2 Italian eggplant
- 1 Spanish onion
- 1 red bell pepper
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 sprig fresh thyme
- 2 tbsp butter
- ½ cup finely grated parmesan cheese
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Place the baking dish inside the oven while it’s heating up.
- Seed and finely chop the eggplant. Place the chopped eggplant in a bowl of cold salted water for 10 minutes to draw out some of the bitterness.
- While the eggplant is soaking, finely chop the onion and red bell pepper. Set aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat until shimmering.
- Drain the eggplant and pat dry. To the skillet, add in the onion, bell pepper, eggplant and garlic.
- Sautee for 5 minutes or until the onion is soft. Add in the tomato paste and salt and cook for another 1-2 minutes until a deep red.
- Remove the baking dish from the oven. Working quickly, add the arborio rice , and pepper mixture to the baking dish.
- Carefully pour in the hot stock and white wine and give the rice a good stir until evenly combined.
- Lay the sprig of thyme over the rice and cover the dish tightly with heavy duty foil.
- Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and carefully remove the foil.
- Vigorously stir in the butter and cheese until risotto is creamy. Mash up the garlic cloves and stir them into the rice as well.
- Top with chopped parsley and serve immediately.
If you love rice, try these other recipes:
- GARLICKY CILANTRO LIME RICE (FLUFFY AND FOOLPROOF!)
- THAI GREEN CURRY WITH CHICKEN, EGGPLANT AND OYSTER MUSHROOMS
- JAPANESE GRILLED STREET CORN ONIGIRI (焼きとうもろこし お握り)
Oven Baked Nightshade Risotto
Equipment
- 1 9"13" baking dish – preferably ceramic
Ingredients
- 1 generous cup arborio rice
- 3 cups hot vegetable stock or water
- ½ cup dry white wine, like a Chardonnay
- 1 Chinese eggplant or 1/2 Italian eggplant
- 1 Spanish onion
- 1 red bell pepper
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 sprig fresh thyme
- 2 tbsp butter
- ½ cup finely grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Place the baking dish inside the oven while it's heating up.
- Seed and finely chop the eggplant. Place the chopped eggplant in a bowl of cold salted water for 10 minutes to draw out some of the bitterness.
- While the eggplant is soaking, finely chop the onion and red bell pepper. Set aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat until shimmering.
- Drain the eggplant and pat dry. To the skillet, add in the onion, bell pepper, eggplant and garlic.
- Sautee for 5 minutes or until the onion is soft. Add in the tomato paste and salt and cook for another 1-2 minutes until a deep red.
- Remove the baking dish from the oven. Working quickly, add the arborio rice , and pepper mixture to the baking dish.
- Carefully pour in the hot stock and white wine and give the rice a good stir until evenly combined.
- Lay the sprig of thyme over the rice and cover the dish tightly with heavy duty foil.
- Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and carefully remove the foil.
- Vigorously stir in the butter and cheese until risotto is creamy. Mash up the garlic cloves and stir them into the rice as well.
- Top with chopped parsley and serve immediately.