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is the crown prince of all risottos, for our money.
The earthy undertones of this seafood risotto, produced by
these exotic, Italian mushrooms and their "stock", teams with traditional
risotto ingredients to create a truly, sumptuous dish.
Don't take our word for it (though our word is Golden), try
it for yourself.
The preparation is similar to the vegetable risotto detailed
on the
Italian risotto home page. You cook the shrimp and scallops (al dente)
separately and add them to the dish near completion (along with their
juices) to finish.
Just be patient and keep the heat low, and there's
absolutely no reason your seafood risotto shouldn't be "to die for". It can
happen with this dish. Take the ball and run with it.
New Italian Recipes Presents:
Italian Seafood Risotto With Porcini Mushrooms
Ingredients:
1 cup Italian arborio rice
2-3 T e. v. olive oil
4-6 cups chicken stock
(preferably homemade)
1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
2 cups boiling water (to reconstitute the dried porcinis)
1/2 cup dry, white wine such as chardonnay or pinot grigio
1/2 lb medium or large shrimp and 1/2 lb scallops (or, all shrimp or all
scallops)
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 cup onions or shallots, finely minced
1 T fennel seeds, crushed in (coffee grinder)
2 T fresh Italian Parsley, chopped
1/4 to 1/2 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano
salt and freshly ground black or Tellicherry pepper
(see Herb and Spice Dictionary)
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
2 T butter or yogurt butter
Preparation:
Pour boiling water into small bowl and add porcinis to reconstitute. This
takes from 20-30 minutes, so plan ahead. Shrooms should be soft and plumped.
Set chicken stock to a slow simmer in a large sauce pan or
soup pan
In large skillet, heat wine over medium and add garlic for
one minute.
Add the seafood and let simmer until shrimp turn just pink,
and/or scallops just turn translucent. Remove from heat and let steep in the
wine.
(In other words, cook the seafood only to medium rare, since
it will continue to cook in the wine and when added to the risotto.)
After the porcinis have "re-constituted" for about half an
hour, take the porcinis out of the liquid and squeeze out some of the juice
back into the bowl. It will be dark brownish red by now and deeply
flavorful. Yum! If it's "gritty", strain the grit out.
Add the cleaned porcini liquid and the porcinis themselves
to the simmering stock
Perfect! Now the risotto stock is primed to deeply infuse
the arborio with the earthy, chestnutty flavor of the porcinis. (They grow
underneath chestnut trees in Italy and take on the flavor).
You are sooo going to love this. Darn it, I wish we were
there!
Now, in a large cast iron skillet or large non-stick
skillet, heat olive oil to medium.
Add the onions and toss them a couple of times to coat.
Then, add the Italian Arborio rice.
Toss the rice with the onions a few times to coat it well
with oil. This helps the rice to absorb the cooking juices slowly. It also
assists in producing the silky texture that we so love in a really
professionally done risotto.
Okay, now you add a ladle or two of the barely simmering
stock, stir a little, make sure the developing risotto is completely covered
with juices and reduce the heat to low.
Let it just simmer for a few, until the liquid is absorbed
and the liquid level is just below the top of the rice.
Add more stock. You don't have to stir this time but make
sure the rice is completely covered again. And just keep repeating this for
about fifteen or so.
You are just about done now, so add the seafood and the
liquid that is with it in its cooking pan.
Let the level of the liquid in your risotto reduce by about
half.
It's now time to taste for tenderness of the rice. If the
rice is tender enough for your personal taste (we like it really tender with
just a tiny bit of crispness), add the cheese and butter, stir them in
thoroughly and let the risotto continue to cook until almost all of the
liquid has been absorbed.
Remove from the heat. Please let the dish stand for about
5-7 minutes and the flavors will meld (marry) a bit more.
Serve in pasta bowls (we've got these really cute Italiany
bowls we serve risotto and pasta in.)
Top with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and freshly chopped
Italian Parsley.
A nice Italian Chard or substantive pinot grigio goes great
with this. Let us know what you think!
Buon appetito always!
Brought to you with love from
Aunt Aletha and Dear Old Dave
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