March 27, 2013

Risotto with Shrimp, Snow Peas, and Mint

Yumm you just have to love a big bowl if risotto on a Snowy March night! And it really is the easiest thing to make. I made shrimp tacos the night before and turned my shrimp shells into the most basic of stocks by simmering them in salted water.

To make my risotto, I sweated a small diced onion plus a couple of cloves of garlic in a medium sauté pan with a little olive oil. Then I added and toasted 1 1/2 cups of arborio rice. Once I could smell the nice toasty rice, I started the process of adding the simmering shrimp stock: add a ladle, stir until fully absorbed, repeat. This process will take between 20 and 30 minutes but is sooo worth it! At the end, I follow the same steps but with a nice glug of white wine. I then finish the risotto with a little lemon zest, salt, and lots of black pepper.

On the side, I sauté together shrimp and snow peas and finish this with a chiffonade of mint. Plate this on top if risotto!! It is perfect!!

**side note--many people would cook their shrimp and vegetables in the same pan as their risotto--I do this with mushroom risotto, for example--but in this case, you want to be careful not to over cook the shrimp and to keep the snow peas slightly crisp, so cooking them separately just makes sense. Also...it just looks prettier, and that really Is important!

1 comment:

Sarah said...

We have shrimp stock in the freezer so we will make this Easter weekend. Looks wonderful. Thanks.