Thursday, January 04, 2007

Shrimp Risotto with Baby Spinach and Basil


Mmm Mmm Mmmmmm! That's what I have to say about this recipe. After the disaster of the gratin the other day I was in desperate need of a culinary victory. Well, it came in the shape of this dish.
This recipe is from a fellow beanie and marathon runner who always seems to have the best recipes on hand. This one is from the March 2003 issue of Bon Apetit, and it's a winner, which is more than I can say for the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame who bit the big one against LSU last night in their 41-14 loss.

6 cups (about) low-salt chicken broth
1 pound uncooked large shrimp, peeled, deveined
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups arborio rice or medium-grain white rice (about 9 1/2 ounces)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 6-ounce package baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
Additional grated Parmesan cheese

Bring 6 cups broth to simmer in medium saucepan. Add shrimp. Turn off heat, cover, and let stand until shrimp are just opaque in center, about 3 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer shrimp to small bowl; cover with foil to keep warm. Cover broth to keep warm.

Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add chopped onion and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add minced garlic and stir 1 minute. Add rice and stir until edge of rice is translucent but center is still opaque, about 2 minutes. Add wine and cook until wine is absorbed, stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes. Add 3/4 cup chicken broth. Simmer until almost all broth is absorbed, stirring often, about 2 minutes. Continue to add broth, 3/4 cup at a time, until rice is just tender and mixture is creamy, stirring often and allowing almost all broth to be absorbed after each addition, about 25 minutes total. During last 5 minutes, add spinach in 4 batches, stirring and allowing spinach to wilt after each addition. Mix in shrimp, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, and basil. Season risotto to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon risotto into shallow bowls and serve, passing additional cheese separately.

Makes 6 servings

2 comments:

wheresmymind said...

That shrimp looks like it was cooked very delicately!

Anonymous said...

I actually just made this same recipe myself for a dinner party about 2 weeks ago. Except that I left out the shrimp because my friends requested salmon - so I just made the risotto w/o the shrimp and then served some crispy seared salmon on top. It was great! Yours looks like it came out even better than mine!