We just love the wonderful recipes Tomatoes are sending in on what they’ve been cooking while sheltering at home. If you have recipes, email us tomato@thethreetomatoes.com

Asparagus Risotto

Submitted by: Grace Gallo, NYC and Italy, founder of Travel with Style and Grace

Risotto takes a while to cook properly, and it requires your attention as well as your time. For upwards of 20 minutes, you have one job and one job only, and that is to stir the rice while adding hot stock, a ladle full at a time, and cook the rice slowly so that the stock is absorbed. this risotto method, releases the rice’s starches, producing a creamy, velvety dish. A properly cooked risotto should form a soft, creamy mound on a dinner plate. It shouldn’t run across the plate, nor should it be stiff or gluey.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups arborio rice
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup of vegetable stock
• 1 medium shallot (about 1/2 cup or 1/2 small onion, chopped)
• 4 tablespoons butter (divided)
• 4 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ cup of cream
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (grated)
• 1 tablespoon Italian parsley (chopped)
• Salt & pepper (to taste)

Preparation

Heat the chicken and vegetable stock to a simmer in a medium saucepan, then lower the heat so that the stock just stays hot.

In a medium, frying pan, heat 2 tablespoon oil and 2 tablespoon of the butter (Save other Two of each for the rice) over medium heat. When the butter has melted, add half of the chopped shallot or onion. Sauté for 2 to 3 minutes or until slightly translucent. Add the asparagus and sauté for ten minutes. Put aside.

To cook the rice take a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the remaining 2 tablespoon oil and 2 tablespoon of the butter over medium heat. When the butter has melted, add the chopped shallot or onion. Sauté for 2 to 3 minutes or until slightly translucent. Add half a cup of the rice to the pot and stir it briskly with a wooden spoon so that the grains are coated with the oil and melted butter. Sauté for another minute or so, don’t let the rice turn brown. Add a ladle of hot chicken and vegetable stock to the rice and stir until the liquid is fully absorbed. Add rest of the rice, when the rice appears almost dry, add another ladle of stock and repeat the process until all rice is cooking, after about 20 minutes of stirring, leave a couple of ladles of chicken and vegetables stock, now add the asparagus and keep stirring (Keep some of the Asparagus for garnish)

Continue adding last of the stock and now add cream and grated parmesan cheese, leave a little cheese to add on top. Continue to combine all and stirring cook for another ten minutes or until the grains are tender but still firm to the bite, without being crunchy. Always serve hot. Enjoy.

Baked Pears

Submitted by Leslie Kushner, Zurich, Switzerland, CEO of Back from Bali clothes

Ingredients

• 6 Brown pears preferably ripened but not necessary
• Cinnamon
• Butter

Directions

• Cut in half and remove most of pits
• Place pears in baking dish and smother with cinnamon. That means to rub each pear with large dose of Cinnamon back and front.
• Put a pat of butter on each half
• Bake in 350 oven till each pear becomes caramelized and ultra-soft, about 45 minutes depending on oven

Easy One Pan Chicken and Asparagus

Randie Levine Miller, NYC, Hostess with the Mostess

Ingredients

• Chicken breast about a lb.  If it’s too thick, beat it with a hammer with aluminum foil on it
• 1 egg..beaten
• breadcrumbs
• olive oil
• fresh garlic , chopped
• White wine
• Canned asparagus spears
• low fat mozzarella cheese

Directions

• Heat pan and then heat olive oil, garlic, and wine
• dip chicken in egg, then bread crumbs add salt to taste
• Sauté the chicken in the pan till it’s fully cooked
• After it’s cooked put it in a baking dish and add the asparagus and the low-fat mozzarella cheese and put it in the oven at 325 for 20 minutes