I live to eat and love to cook. Welcome to my life!

September 16, 2009

Vanishing Risotto

On slow day in the office my friend Tiffany and I sat at our respective computers, google-ing recipes in our quest for "what's for dinner". Risotto was the theme of the day and after muddling through 500 recipes, half of which were wild mushroom or butternut squash, we found 2 different recipes that piqued our interest enough to print and share with each other.

Tiff opted for the Champagne Risotto with Seared Scallops which she says was fabulous. One of the best things about the recipe was that it is actually scaled to a 2 guest serving size, which is rare in recipe world and very useful when you have a household of just 2. Going to save that recipe for the next time I have a risotto craving...My recipe was one for shrimp risotto with seared scallops, however I changed things up just a bit so I didn't have to go to the store at all.

I made the recipe similar to the one found on Epicurious, but had to gussy it up a bit with my homemade shrimp stock (no pre portioned mire poix for me, no siree!), the addition of sauteed fennel and mom's ingenious idea of brightening it up with some of her preserved lemons. After portioning out the boys dinner and sending them off to the living room and football game, us girls made up our plates and before we could even carry them in to the table, my dad was back with a clean plate (tongue tracks baby!) asking if there was more for him to have seconds. Now visualize moms head and mine swelling to semi large proportions :)~

This was seriously good, no BS. I make risotto a lot as it is one of those dishes you can make fabulous without a whole lot of effort and most often with the random bits of goodness that occupy your kitchen & fridge. My only sad moment was this morning when mom told me she was polishing off the leftovers.

Hope you enjoy as much as we did, I can't wait to make this again!



Shrimp Risotto with Preserved Lemon & Truffle Oil

1 ½ pounds shrimp with shells on
½ onion, rough chop
1 large carrot-rough chop
3 large celery stalks-rough chop
7 cups water

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion-small dice
1 Fennel bulb-small dice
2 garlic cloves, minced

1 ½ cup Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
Salt

2 tablespoons butter
1/4 of a preserved lemon-rind & pulp cut in fine dice
¼ C grated Parmesan cheese

Truffle oil
4 tablespoons chopped fresh chives


Preparation
Shell the shrimp and slice shrimp lengthwise. Add shrimp shells, onion, carrot & celery to the water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 30 minutes and then strain, set aside.

Heat olive oil in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add shrimp; saute 1 minute, using slotted spoon, transfer to a bowl. Add onion & fennel to pan; saute until translucent, about 1 minute. Deglaze with wine if needed. Add garlic; saute for a few minutes, add rice; stir 1 minute. Add the rest of the wine; simmer until absorbed. Add 1 cup of shrimp stock to rice; simmer until liquid is absorbed, stirring often. Continue adding liquid 1 cup at a time and stirring often, allowing each addition to be absorbed before adding next, until rice is tender but still firm to bite, about 20-30 minutes. You may not use all of the stock. Add salt little by little until seasoned to taste…be very careful not to over salt! Add in preserved lemon to taste, stir in butter, Parmesan and shrimp. Season with salt and pepper if needed

Divide risotto among 4 plates, drizzle lightly with truffle oil, sprinkle with chives, and serve.




1 comment:

Lynn Kenton said...

It WAS good cold the next morning!