I wanted to share another one of the recipes I made with some of the roughly five trillion pounds of leftover gigantic shrimp from our Fourth of July party. And I shouldn’t even be calling it leftover shrimp. That would imply that I actually used some of the shrimp at our Fourth of July party, and that some of the shrimp was left over. But in fact, I didn’t use any of it at our Fourth of July party. I didn’t use any of it, because I have my limits when it comes to being able to cognitively multi-task and I completely forgot about it. And I didn’t even realize I had forgotten about it until well after the party, when I opened my fridge to try to figure out what to have for breakfast and was greeted by roughly five trillion pounds of shrimp instead.
So I guess I should be calling it neglected shrimp. Not leftover shrimp.
And no matter what it’s called, I just knew that if I didn’t figure out some ways to use it up tout de suite, I would soon have a malodorous fridge. So along with this Coconut Curry Shrimp, which seriously made my skirt fly up, I also made a batch of this bright and lovely risotto, whose leftovers I ate all throughout last week. There I go using the “leftover” word again. Except in this case, it’s accurate.
I’m so glad we had this talk.
Melt a little butter in a skillet…
Then throw in a nice layer of peeled, deveined shrimp! Doesn’t matter what size you use; this is U10 (under 10 shrimp per pound) and they result in big chunks of shrimp after chopping, but you can use any size of shrimp your heart desires. You can even use tiny ones and leave ’em whole at the end! Or you can use huge ones and chop ’em up at the end. Or you can use medium ones and be riddled with confusion about whether to chop ’em or leave ’em whole at the end.
The world is your oyster.
Oyster? This is getting really confusing.
Turn the shrimp over halfway through and cook it until it’s opaque, about 3 minutes total.
Then throw ’em onto a plate for a bit.
Now, chop up some onion…
Mince up some garlic…
And throw ’em both into the same skillet you used to cook the shrimp. Stir and cook the onion and garlic for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the onions are translucent.
Then pour in some Arborio rice…
And stir/cook it around for a couple of minutes. And whatever you do, don’t walk away from the skillet and forget about it like a certain 40-something redhead in rural Oklahoma did. It’s best if the rice doesn’t get brown like this.
But actually, it turned out fine.
So basically, don’t listen to anything I say and you’ll be good to go.
Now, when I make risotto, I like to start by adding a nice amount of white wine! It makes the finished risotto extra delicious, and…well, it’s wine. You don’t always have to have a good reason for it.
Then you just have to be patient for a few minutes, giving it a gentle stir or two…
Until the wine is pretty much all absorbed.
Now it’s time for the broth! Just add it in 1/2 to 1 cup increments, stirring and letting it absorb before the next addition. I used this vegetable broth, which I love because it has a nice deep yellow/orange tint to it…but any broth—vegetable, chicken, or even seafood—will do.
Note: Normally, normal people who normally want to take the normal route will heat up the broth in a saucepan before adding it. But I didn’t want to work that hard.
Now just let this cook…
Until the rice is absorbed…
Then add some more! Just continue this process until you’ve added about 4 to 5 cups of broth…more if it needs it.
And along the way, squeeze in some lemon juice and add some salt and pepper.
Eventually, it will look like this. Gorgeous!
Now, note that if you use a different brand of vegetable broth, or if you use chicken broth, the color of the risotto will be lighter. In that case, if you’d like the risotto to have a nice golden tinge, sprinkle in a really small amount of turmeric!
At the very end, when the rice is perfect and tender but still has a little bite to it, add some lemon zest. Gives it a little extra zip.
And now, what you are about to see may shock you. Risotto is inherently creamy and normally doesn’t require cream. But of course, I’d never let that stop me. Just add in a tablespoon or two! It won’t do ya no harm, man.
Now, chop up the shrimp…
Chop up some basil…
And throw both in with the luscious, creamy, dreamy, lemony risotto!
What a lovely sight.
Then just fold it all together…
And dinner is served!
Oh, and I forgot: Sprinkle on some more lemon zest…
And a little more pepper.
And go for it!
(Oh, and grated Parmesan is delicious, too. But I forgot to take a photo of that part. Something about slurping down this yumminess made me a little distracted.)
Enjoy this, friends! It’s a bowlful of bliss.
Here’s the handy dandy printable.
