Before I started making Risotto I assumed it was a fancy dish that required time and fancy ingredients to make. I find myself making Risotto often with left over items. Cheese that is almost past its prime, last weeks leftover veggies all are good things to experiment with when making Risotto. I always have homemade stock in my freezer so all I really need is a few items to whip up a tasty dinner.
Ingredients:
- ½ to 1 lb raw shrimp, size does not matter.. ./giggle
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Kosher salt
- freshly grated pepper
- ½ cup Chardonnay
- 2 small onions, chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1 cup arborio (risotto) rice
- 4-5 cups shellfish stock, heated
- ¼ cup cream, heated
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
- ¼ smoked Gouda
- 3 green onions, chopped
After you have cleaned the shrimp heat a large sauce pan over medium heat. Dry the shrimp, if the shrimp you are using has shells leave them on and remove them after they are cooked. Add the olive oil to the hot skillet. Sprinkle one side of the dried shrimp with kosher salt and freshly grated pepper. Place the shrimp into the skillet seasoned side down. Season the other side of the shrimp with the salt and pepper. Cook the shrimp about a minute and a half for each size, if you are using smaller shrimp adjust the cooking time accordingly.
After the shrimp are done, remove them from the pan and set aside. Once the shrimp are cool enough to handle take the shells off all of them and leave the tails on 8 of the shrimp for garnish, chop the rest of the shrimp up into bite size pieces. If you prefer you can chop all the shrimp up, I just think leaving a few shrimp whole to garnish the top of each plate makes a nice presentation.
Keep the heat on the pan and cook the onions and garlic for 4 minutes, or till they are tender. Add the risotto rice to the pan, and saute it for a few minutes. Deglaze the pan with the chardonnay, after the wine completely reduces start to add the shellfish stock. Add a half a cup at a time.
Let the rice absorb all the liquid before adding more, and stir the risotto constantly. This process should take about a half hour.
Test the rice after a half hour and if it is soft and feels done, stop adding stock.
Once the risotto is soft add the warm cream. Let the cream get absorbed into the rice and then add the cheese.
After you mix in the cheese add the green onions (save some for garnish), and the chopped shrimp.
Plate with a few whole shrimp and some green onions. Serve immediately. Serves 4 for a main course, and 6-8 for a small appetizer.
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