Shrimp Risotto with Vegetables

Name: Shrimp Risotto with Vegetables: Creamy Arborio Recipe
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Cuisine: Italian cuisine
Ingredients: Rice (Arborio) 1 cup (180 g); Broth or hot water 0.8–1 l; Shrimp 150 g; Green peas 50 g; Carrot 1; Parsnip 1; Basil 1-2 sprigs; Garlic 1-2 cloves; Olive oil 3 tbsp; Butter to taste; Salt 5 g per 1 l of liquid; Black pepper, nutmeg, sugar to taste

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45 mins

How do you make shrimp risotto properly? The surest advice is to cook it in a good mood. Risotto is a cornerstone of Italian cuisine, one of its most interesting and popular dishes. It is usually offered as an alternative to pasta. I am not even sure there is a restaurant in Italy without risotto on the menu. Typically you get a choice: pasta or risotto.

Risotto is hardly a kind of soup or porridge. Its technique has nothing in common with soups or porridges, so it is surely a special dish in its own right. I would even venture to say that risotto is closer to paella or pilaf.

What I like about risotto is that with the cooking skills you have gained, a suitable rice and a bit of imagination, you can make risottos that are completely different from one another. For example, seafood risotto.

The main difficulty with risotto where I live is the rice. I admit I tried a cheap local rice with no name. For the first and last time. It turned into a mushy porridge. Never again! Risotto needs Arborio, Carnaroli or Vialone Nano, round-grain varieties with a high starch content. Only these can be cooked properly, and then the risotto comes out creamy and uniform, with every grain of rice staying separate.

Making shrimp risotto is not the longest process. The rice cooks in 20-25 minutes, plus a little prep, so it usually takes no more than an hour. Especially in autumn, when vegetables, greens and root vegetables are plentiful, it is worth making a special risotto with shrimp and assorted vegetables. For the basics, which rice to choose and how to add the broth, see the recipe for how to make risotto. Another seafood option is risotto with mussels.

12 ingredientsTo the recipe

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Ingredients

2 servings

Rice (Arborio) 1 cup
(180 g)
Broth or hot water 0.8–1 l
Shrimp 150 g
Green peas 50 g
Carrot 1
Parsnip 1
Basil 1-2 sprigs
Garlic 1-2 cloves
Olive oil 3 tbsp
Butter to taste
Salt 5 g per 1 l of liquid
Black pepper, nutmeg, sugar to taste

Step-by-step recipe

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For a shrimp risotto for breakfast, it is best to use not the largest shrimp. For example, size 70/90, which is the number of shrimp per kilogram. I remember that in childhood shrimp were sold in the “Okean” store and by the glass on the beach by the Black Sea. Now you can buy them in any store, even the smallest, because shrimp have gone from an exotic treat to an ordinary snack to go with beer. If you want to bother with unpeeled shrimp, nobody stops you. But you can buy them already peeled.
Pour boiling water over the shrimp meat or whole shrimp so they thaw. After 5 minutes, drain the water. Peel the unpeeled shrimp. Set the shrimp meat aside on a plate.
Heat the olive oil in a saucepan or sauté pan and fry the peeled garlic, crushed with a knife. The garlic’s job is to flavor the olive oil. Fry the garlic until it darkens, then throw it away.
Peel the carrot and parsnip and dice them. Fry the carrot and parsnip in the flavored oil. The vegetables should become soft and start to brown a little.
Add fresh or frozen green peas to the fried vegetables. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper, add a pinch of nutmeg on the tip of a knife and 0.5 tsp of sugar (2 g), which helps the peas keep their green color.
Add the rice and fry it with the vegetables for a few minutes.
Pour in hot broth or plain hot water in small portions. Add each next portion only after the rice has absorbed the previous one. One cup of Arborio rice (180 g) can easily absorb 4 or more cups of liquid. Arborio usually cooks in 20-25 minutes.
5 minutes before the end of cooking, add the boiled, peeled shrimp to the risotto and stir. Keep it on low heat until the rice has absorbed all the liquid. The rice should be fully cooked, though each grain should still have a barely perceptible firmness inside.
To improve the flavor, I recommend adding 1-2 tsp of butter to the shrimp risotto.
Before serving, sprinkle the shrimp risotto with finely chopped fresh basil.
Serve the shrimp risotto hot. The final consistency is close to the rice porridge we are used to. If you like, add more pepper and sprinkle with finely grated Parmesan.