Spicy Shrimp Risotto

Ahh...Risotto.  Few things in the world delight me like this dish of creamy, rice-shaped pasta.  In the past, I have mostly prepared this heavenly meal as a side dish, but am always looking for ways to create a main dish with it.  Here is one of my favorites.

This recipe was adapted from an Epicurious recipe and the original can be found here.

For a printable copy of my adapted recipe, click here.

What you'll need:

5 cups unsalted chicken stock

3/4 cup white wine

1 lb raw peeled, deveined shrimp...(I always use the 25 to 30 count)

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 large shallots, thinly sliced

1 1/2 cups orzo (Orzo is a pasta, not a rice, so it can be found on the pasta aisle)

1/2 bunch chopped, fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Grated Parmesan cheese

First, place the chicken stock and 1/4 of the cup of white wine in a large sauce pan on the back burner over high heat.  Heat until almost to a boil, turn down heat to low and keep hot on the back burner.

In a small saute pan over medium high heat, add 2 tablespoons butter, half of the minced garlic, and the red pepper flakes.  Saute for about 2 minutes.  Add your shrimp.  Saute for about 3 minutes until the shrimp begin to turn pink.  (DO NOT OVERCOOK YOUR SHRIMP.  IT WILL CONTINUE COOKING SLIGHTLY ONCE ADDED TO THE RISOTTO LATER) 

Add the remaining 1/2 cup white wine and cook for another 2 minutes.

Pour the entire pan into a colander resting over a bowl.   You want to reserve the cooking liquid.

In a large dutch oven over medium high heat, add 4 tablespoons butter, shallots, and remaining minced garlic.  Saute until shallots have softened and begin to turn translucent, about 5 minutes.

  Add the orzo, stir well, and cook until the orzo begins to smell nutty..about 2 minutes.  Stir frequently to prevent burning.

Now add two cups of the hot chicken stock/white wine mixture and stir orzo mixture constantly until all liquid is absorbed.  Once all liquid is absorbed, add another cup of the stock/wine mixture.  Stir frequently until all liquid is absorbed.  Continue doing this, adding stock/wine mixture 1 cup at a time and stirring until all liquid is absorbed until you've used all the stock/wine mixture.

Now stir in the reserved liquid the shrimp was cooked in and cook for about 2 minutes.

Add your shrimp and about 2 tablespoons chopped parsley.

Add cracked black pepper and salt and stir.

Place in bowls and top with more fresh parsley and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

--

Laura