Risotto con Pomodorini

Well, we've just returned from a whirlwind trip to Italy which always provides me with new cooking inspiration. Here is a photo of a recipe I am going to attempt to recreate, Risotto con Pomodorini. The owner of the restaurant shared the recipe with us and basically it is a basic risotto and near the end of cooking you add a handful of mini tomatoes (cherry tomatoes) and some finely chopped basil (or a small amount of pesto) if you have it on hand.

So here is my rough interpretation:

Heat up at least a liter of vegetable broth (fresh broth versus canned is always better if you have the time). Heat up some olive oil and a chunk of butter, add finely chopped garlic or shallot if you want (or don't). Add arborio rice and let simmer slowly in the oil until kernels are coated and almost bursting (couple minutes). Add white wine and let the rice soak it up. Add a ladle of hot broth to the rice and let each ladleful be soaked up by the rice before adding another. Total cooking time for the rice is 20-30 minutes. Towards the end of cooking add a handful of halved cherry tomatoes and continue cooking until rice is al dente. Sprinkle in chopped basil (or small spoon of pesto) and handful of parmesan cheese (and if you can find some ricotta salata which will make it nice and creamy).