Savory Weeknight Risotto
So last night I had to throw together a quick dinner after an all day marathon of errands, and I wasn’t in the mood for elaborate or time consuming. I made a savory risotto in 30 minutes, y’all from pot to plate and it was delish!!!
I don’t know about you, but I love meal planning before I shop for groceries. That said, I have zero idea how I ended up with a bag of raw, unpeeled jumbo shrimp in my freezer, but alas, here we are.
Rummaging through my pantry, I found a jar of Arborio and inspiration struck. Quickly checking my vegetable stores, I gathered the necessary ingredients to make a savory risotto and crossed my fingers.
And I said one pot, but I really used my favorite cast iron paella pan and two baking sheets… shrug- sorry.
This was delish with a fresh garden salad and toasted French bread. Add a nice glass of white wine and you have a weeknight feast!
30-ish minutes from pot to plate and YUM!!
| Prep Time | 5-7 minutes |
| Cook Time | 30 minutes |
| Servings |
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- 1 Cup Arborio rice uncooked
- 1 Pound raw jumbo shrimp Frozen unpeeled
- 1 Bunch asparagus
- 4-5 Whole baby bella mushrooms capped
- 1 TBSP garlic minced
- 6 Cup chicken stock
- 1 Whole lemon
- 1 Sprig rosemary
- 2 TBSP butter unsalted
- 2 TBSP olive oil
- 1/4 tsp salt/pepper to taste- watch salt addition
Ingredients
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- To start, I used my cast iron paella pan, put a tsp of EVOO and my garlic and sort of toss that around for a bit on low to medium heat. Add frozen unpeeled shrimp, squeeze half a lemon over them and add your sprig of rosemary. Keep stirring and flipping shrimp- they’ll start turning pink pretty quickly. While that’s going, I got 6 cups of water heating in the microwave- hot but not boiling- about 4 minutes. I added 1 T of the chicken stock to the water and dissolve. I love this stuff because it is rich and perfect for soup, but it can be a bit salty so taste as you cook before you start adding any extra salt to your recipe. Once the broth is ready, go ahead and add one soup ladle to your shrimp to deglaze the pan and finish them off. Once shrimp are fully cooked- about 5-6 minutes, you’re going to spoon them out on a plate to rest. Leave the broth behind in the pan.
- Add your Arborio and two more ladles of the broth and turn up the heat. You’ll want to quick boil the rice for 3 minutes or so and then turn the heat back down to low/medium. You’ll add a ladle of the broth each time the rice is clearly showing through the liquid. Taste as you go- after slow bubbling for about 15-20 minutes, you should start to taste the rice softening up. You want it firm but not crunchy.
- Once your rice is cooking, wash and cap 4-5 nice size baby Bella mushrooms and a bunch of asparagus. Place vegetables on a baking sheet, drizzle with some EVOO and a tiny bit of salt and pepper. Roast in the oven on 400 for the 15 minutes or so that your rice will be cooking. Once you taste that your rice is getting done, you’re going to remove your veggies from the oven, squeeze the other ½ lemon onto them, and then rough cut them on the roasting pan- in one inch or so bites down the length of the asparagus. Slice mushrooms in fourths.
- Check your risotto one last time for doneness- again it should be firm but not crunchy and definitely not mushy. Add 1-2T unsalted butter, pepper to taste and remove your sprig of rosemary. Stir until butter is melted, add your veggies and shrimp and turn up to high heat to boil off excess liquid. You don’t want it to boil dry or stick to the bottom of the pan so keep stirring and turn the heat off as soon as it gets to the consistency you like- 2 to 3 minutes max. It shouldn’t be runny at all but have a rich saucy glaze to it.
I say add no additional salt, because the broth can be salty. This is something you want to check as you go, you may want some salt, but ours was plenty flavorful without the extra seasoning.
While the liquid was cooking off, I toasted our French loaf under the broiler.
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