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Lemon risotto with shrimp recipe - gluten free

Risotto al Limone e Gamberetti - Lemon Risotto with Shrimp

Risotto al limone e gamberetti (lemon risotto with shrimp) is a creamy, bright Italian rice dish enriched with fresh lemon, sweet shrimp, peas, and chives.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 12
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil    2 Tablespoons Finely Chopped  or chives green onions 1 grilled shrimp
  • 1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
  • 1/2 tsp salt plus more to taste
  • 1 cup Arborio Rice (or sub Car..
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine (even better to use wine serving it with)
  • 5 cups mild vegetable broth, heated (can sub light chicken broth or fish broth)
  • 12 oz cleaned uncooked medium shrimp (prawn), chopped big chunk, halve med size shrimp, or 1/3 large shrimp
  • 2 lemons to make 1/4 c juice, 1 ribbon zest peel, 1 micro zested (only yellow, avoid any white pith)
  • 3/4 cup peas dethawed or fresh
Sauteed Shrimp Topping
  • 12 large shrimp fresh or dethawed, peeled with tail on
  • 1/4 tsp salt extra to taste
  • 1/8 tsp ground black pepper extra to taste
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp butter
Garnish
  • 2 tbsp fresh chives, finely chopped
  • 24 chive spear tips optional garnishing

Method
 

Prep Shrimp, Peas and Garnishes
  1. This is to be done the day of serving. If making risotto base a day ahead of time, skip this for now and prep for finishing stage.
  2. Defrost: place shrimp (if frozen) in a colander in a sink. Run cold water over it to
  3. Clean: once shrimp is pliable, remove any shells. For medium shrimp, also remove tail parts. If you are also sauteing shrimp for topping, leave tail on).
  4. Make sure all shrimp is deveined cleanly, remove any missed vein (black or gray) stringy bits with a small knife.
  5. Chop up medium shrimp in large chunks (they will shrink when cooked). Place in contain with cover or lid and refrigerate until ready to use.
  6. For large shrimp topping, place in seperate with cover or lid and refrigerate until ready to use.
  7. Dethaw peas either by putting fridge overnight, or bringing out and rinsing under cold water. Keep in fridge until ready to use.
Broth Infusion (for risotto base)
  1. Start with clean and dry lemons.
  2. Make lemon ribbons: using a vegetable peeler, remove the zest from 1 of the lemons in long, wide strips. Try to remove only the colored portion of the peel, not the white.
  3. Using a micro grater, grate the zest from the other lemon. Set aside in seperate container.
  4. Halve the lemons and squeeze ¼ cup juice. The juice and zest will be used to finish the risotto, refrigerate them if making base a day ahead of serving.
  5. Heat up vegetable stock in a pot with lemon peel to a boil. Let simmer for at least 10minutes.  Keep at a simmer while making risotto.
Risotto Base
  1. Heat oil in a heavy saute pan over medium heat.
  2. Add the onions and ¼ tsp salt and cook until they are translucent, about 7 minutes
  3. Add the rice and stir until it is well coated with the oil. Allow to cook stirring occasionally to brown (toast) the rice a bit. You want to see a tan coloring over the majority of rice. Watch carefully so it doesn't burn.
  4. Add the white wine, and stir continually over medium heat until it is absorbed. The pan should look dry.
  5. Add 3 cups of hot broth, stirring briskly for 10 minutes. Using a whisk compatible with your pan is a really good for this. (If non stick - use a silicon whisk). This is where a lot of the break down of starches occur.
  6. Continue adding a couple ladles full of hot broth, and stirring the rice. Let the broth soak in well before adding more.
  7. After 20 minutes of this process, test the rice to see if tender enough to bite through. If tender, do not add more broth at this time. If not and the broth in pan looks absorbed, add a little more broth and after 5 minutes test again. Continue this process to get tender rice..
  8. To finish later, stop at this point. Spread in pan and refrigerate to quickly cool down. Then store in air tight container.
Finishing Risotto
  1. If you prepared the base ahead of time and refrigerated, put it in a large pot with a lid and reheat over medium low heat. Otherwise - continue...
  2. Add lemon juice and zest to rice and heat to bubbling.
  3. Add chopped shrimp and stir in. Turn off heat and cover to cook shrimp  for 5 – 10  minutes. Don’t uncover the pot until they look opaque.
  4. Stir in peas to finish and let sit for at least 10 more minutes.   Taste and season with salt/ pepper if needed.
  5. Serve risotto in individual portions or family style in a large dish.
Sauteed Shrimp Topper
  1. Take out large shrimp with tails still on- make sure defrosted. Pat dry. Put in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper (tossing to coat evenly)
  2. In a large pan over medium high heat, place in butter and oil Allow to melt and mix together.
  3. Place shrimp around in pan one side down, in a circular order (so you know which ones you placed in first)
  4. It will likely take you a few minutes to place all the shrimp in the pan. One more minute, and start turning over the first shrimp you place in the pan. (Ensuring you are cooking for about 3 minutes)
  5. After flipping all the shrimp over, wait one minute then check the first shrimp you put down. When the center area no longer looked solid white and the tails have curved in (almost touching the top part), start taking the shrimp out, or order of how you put them in.
  6. Place one sauteed shrimp on each serving of risotto, or if family style, over risotto.
Garnishes
  1. Clean and dry chives. Arrange so the bases are aligned.
  2. Chop chives from the base up, leaving 2 inches from the tips.
  3. Sprinkle chopped chives over each serving of risotto, or if family style, over entire dish.
  4. Place spears of chives leaning over sauteed shrimp