This delectable Prawn Risotto was made by my good friend Josie. This is Josie’s signature dish and it has been perfected over time. She let me in on her secrets, which I will now pass on to you. I watched her make this wonderful dish and it is not overly complicated and only takes about 20 minutes to make. This puts an end to the myth that you must continually stir risotto for a half hour or more. In fact, the secret is to stir very little and let the rice absorb the stock over a low heat.
Tip : Do not rinse the rice, even if the package includes instruction to do so.
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 3 large shallots
- 1 clove grated garlic
- 1 1/2 cups good Arborio rice
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 4 cups fish, vegetable or chicken stock
- 3 whole plum tomatoes
- 1 tsp Cajun Spice Mix
- 1 tsp Hungarian paprika
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 12 large (13-15 count/lb) shrimp
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
Garnish
- 3-4 sprigs fresh parsley
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- freshly shaved parmesan cheese
Instructions
Tomatoes & Shallots
- Add water to a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil.
- Cut a small cross across the top of 3 whole plum tomatoes and drop into the boiling water. Turn off heat and remove tomatoes to a bowl.
- When cool enough to handle, peel tomatoes using a paring knife starting at the the cut made ealier.
- Cut peeled tomatoes in half, using a small spoon, scoop out the seeds and the connecting membrane and cut tomatoes into 1/4" dice. Set aside until ready to use.
- Peel shrimp and remove tails. Set aside until ready to use.
- Peel and finely chop 3 large shallots and set aside until ready to use.
Risotto
- Add 4 cups fish, vegetable or chicken stock to a medium sauce pan, bring the stock to a simmer, then reduce heat to low.
- Pre heat oven to 150 ℉ and place serving plates on the middle rack of the oven to warm.
- Heat 3 tbsp olive oil a medium sized stock pot over medium heat for 1-2 minutes. Add 3 large shallots finely diced and sauté the shallots until they are soft, but not browned, about 5 minutes. Add 1 clove grated garlic to the shallots and sauté for one minute or until fragrant.
- Reduce heat to medium low and add 1 1/2 cups good Arborio rice. Stir to combine, making sure that the rice has been fully coated in olive oil.
- Add 1/2 cup white wine and stir to combine. Simmer until the wine has been reduced by about 3/4.
- Add stock to the rice to barely cover the rice. Stir occassionally until the liquid has been fully absorbed, about 4-5 minutes with each addition of stock. Continue to add stock to the rice until each addition has been fully absorbed but make sure that the amount of stock you add is always just enough to barely cover the rice. Continue to add stock until the rice looks creamy or until you have added all the stock. If the rice looks a bit dry, add more stock a little at a time.
- Add the chopped tomatoes and season with 1 tsp Cajun Spice Mix, 1 tsp Hungarian paprika and kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir to combine and reduce heat to medium low.
- When the tomatoes and seasoning have been fully blended, add 12 large (13-15 count/lb) shrimp, cleaned and tails removed, and stir to combine with the rice. Cover pan and cook for 2-3 minutes or until the shrimp have turned pink.
- When the shrimp have turned pink, remove to a plate and 1 tbsp unsalted butter to the risotto, gently stir to combine.
Serving
- Remove warmed plates from the oven when ready to serve and add a generous spoonful of risotto to each plate, topping each serving with 3-4 of the cooked shrimp.
- Top the rissoto with chopped parsley, black pepper and shaved parmesan cheese.
- Serve with warm crusty bread.
