Risotto with shrimp

Risotto is always a good idea! All you need is love, a bit of patience and a few ingredients!

People reasonably say that love is one of the most important ingredients! Couldn’t agree more. Now when it comes to risotto – you also need to add patience. And then the rest is covered!

Risotto is actually a very non-complicated dish to make. I’d say it’s easy, but it’s one of those kinds, where you can’t just throw everything in a pot, come back in 30 minutes and have it all ready to serve. There’s nothing difficult to it – you just need to give it enough attention. Stirring most of the cooking time. That is the most complicated part, the rest is easy.

Risotto is a Northern Italian dish – rice cooked in broth until creamy consistency. Main ingredients – rice, broth, butter, wine and onion. Most commonly used rice – Arborio, my secondary choice – Carnaroli (can’t tell much of a difference, but I do like the sound of it). Your choice whether you go with vegetable, mushroom, meat or fish broth. Wine – optional, but it does give it a nice flavor. The rest – pure jazz.

Once you have the basics covered – you’ll want to experiment with different flavors.

Ingredients:

400 g arborio rice
4-6 garlic cloves
Half red onion
1 litre vegetable stock
Butter
Olive oil
2 cups of white wine
Grated parmigiano
Shrimp
Fresh thyme
Salt’n’pepper

Heat a few tablespoons of butter in a pot. Cook chopped garlic and sliced onion until soft. Add shrimp and cook for a few minutes, until they turn pink. Remove shrimp, leaving cooked garlic and onion. Add a bit of olive oil and the rice. Give it a few minutes over moderate heat, stirring, of course. Pour in the wine and cook till absorbed by rice. Then one scoop at a time add the stock and occasionally stir till absorbed. The cooking time will be somewhere around 30 minutes. If you see that it’s getting too thick and still requires a bit more cooking, add more stock or a cup of boiled water if the stock is all gone. Taste it to check when the rice is cooked enough. Add salt and pepper to taste.

When the rice is cooked, all nice and creamy, add parmigiano to taste and a few sprigs of fresh thyme. Stir in the shrimp and serve. Sprinkle some grated cheese on top if desired. This is it! Enjoy!