Risotto is definitely a favourite Italian dish, and nothing beats a warm, delicious seafood risotto. And believe it or not, it’s not that difficult to make. We’ll gladly share our recipe for prawn & scallop risotto with you.
Risotto is a creamy Italian meal that’s made with a short-grain, white rice. The most popular of short-grain rice used in risottos is called Arborio rice or Carnaroli rice. You’ll find Arborio rice on most supermarket shelves nowadays.
Flavour your risotto with anything you can imagine. Whether it’s seafood risotto, salmon or wild mushrooms, there are so many options to choose from.
Cooking risotto at home from scratch is easier than you might think. But we’re not going to lie. It does take time to make properly.
Risotto recipes typically start with a garlic and onion base, sautéed in extra virgin olive oil. Then, the rice is added to the pan before any wet ingredients are added. Most people miss the step of lightly toasting the rice for 2 to 3 minutes before deglazing the pan with white wine and lemon. Once the wine and lemon are absorbed by the risotto, you’ll add the fish or chicken broth, adding a ladle at a time, and not drowning the rice with all of the liquid at once. You wait for the rice to absorb each ladle of liquid before adding the next until the consistency of the rice is firm but tender, with a creaminess to it. And be sure to gently stir the rice frequently to avoid it sticking to the pan and burning.
While Arborio rice, wine, garlic, onion and stock are essential ingredients to the risotto, the other staple to a seafood risotto is the fresh seafood. Choose whatever seafood you like. You could add a firm fish, mussels or squid. But we like to keep it simple with fresh prawns and scallops. Yummy!
Firstly, by cooking the rice slowly, the rice becomes a beautiful and creamy texture.
Secondly, if you want a healthier option, you can leave out the white wine and reduce the amount of parmesan cheese that you add to the rice. Some people choose to leave the cheese out altogether. It’s up to you.
If you want to leave out the cheese but still have a punchy flavour, a traditional Italian risotto has tomato sauce in it. You could add a teaspoon or two of tomato paste or 1 cup of passata if you’d prefer. This gives the seafood risotto red colour and definitely makes it authentic Italian.
Finally, don’t be shy on the garnish. While we’ve garnished with basil and cracked pepper, you could also add Italian parsley, chives or fresh cherry tomatoes. We hope you enjoy this aromatic, delicious seafood risotto.
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