This is a risotto that easy to make, and you do not need to stand at the stove stirring constantly. Serve it with a simple garden salad drizzled with Italian or French Dressing.
A creamy prawn risotto – made easy!
I have a friend who is scared of making risotto because she thinks it’s really hard. Scarred by all those Masterchef episodes where the nervous contestant presents their risotto to the judges and stands there awkwardly, sweating and shaking while the judges peer and prod at the dish before having a taste, chewing slowly with such serious looks on their faces you’d think they were trying to find a solution for World Peace. Risotto is not hard, truly it’s not. I don’t get why they talk it up so much on reality cooking shows!
The flavour base: seared prawns
What’s that you say? You don’t have homemade seafood stock in your freezer? 🤷🏻♀️ And Nagi says no! to basic supermarket fish stock. What to do?? 🤔 We make a fond by searing prawns first. Fond is that brown stuff you get in the pan when you sear things. It makes an amazing flavour base for sauces and broths. Especially seafood. So this is why I sear the prawns first. A basic prawn risotto recipe will say to just toss raw prawns into the risotto right at the end. Yes that’s easier. But I promise you, the 4 minutes extra that it takes to sear the prawns is totally worth it!
Less stirring / just as creamy
You won’t be standing over a hot stove for 20 minutes, constantly stirring and adding broth a ladleful at a time with this risotto. Liquid is added in 2 batches, and you only need to stir every now and then. This is the modern way to cook risotto. It yields the same creamy end result, but we don’t need to stir constantly because we’re making it in a large pot instead of a narrow tall risotto pot which is how it was traditionally made in Italy in the “olden days”. This less stirring / just as creamy technique has been pretty well covered by trusted cooking authorities (America’s Test Kitchen, Cooks’ Illustrated, Serious Eats). Read more in this post – or just trust me when I say this risotto is as beautifully creamy! See? 😇
Rice for risotto
Risotto needs to be made with risotto rice. It has a higher starch content which is what makes the creamy “sauce” without using cream. There’s a few varieties but the most common at supermarkets is Arborio which is what I use. No. If you use another type of rice other than risotto rice, the risotto will not be creamy.
I know I’m really reinforcing how easy this Prawn Risotto, but easy doesn’t mean bland or dull. I proudly serve this up when I’m cooking to impress. It is not just another basic risotto, I promise you that, even though it’s simple to make. The searing of the prawns really gives it that extra “restauranty” edge without making a homemade seafood broth. Oh and PS, I use frozen prawns. Because this is an everyday recipe, and I like using a generous amount of prawns. Obviously feel free to use fresh – and I applaud you! – Nagi x
MORE RISOTTO RECIPES!
Chicken and Mushroom Risotto One Pot Baked Risotto with Lemon Chicken Creamy Baked Pumpkin Risotto Tomato Chorizo and Kale Risotto No-Stir Lemon & Herb Baked Risotto
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
LIFE OF DOZER
My mother was minding Dozer while I was in the States at the Everything Food Conference. In an attempt to keep Dozer entertained while confined to a play pen due to his ACL injury, my mother made him a woollen ball. She emailed me these photos and was rather miffed that that she’d gone to all that effort and “he only played with it for a minute” I got no response when I responded “that’s because he’s not a CAT!!!” 😂
