Shrimp and Asparagus Risotto

So I'll admit it, I successfully made risotto last week and got a little excited to make it for a second time. I changed it up quite a bit and it was delishhhh! Inspired by ingredients Ryan requested, I came up with this.

Now let's get two things straight..."Seafood doesn't go well with cheese" - false. "Red wine doesn't go well with Seafood" - false. I made some damn good Shrimp risotto with loads of parmiggiano cheese and enjoyed a lovely glass of Caymus Cab Sav with it.  So whoever made those rules can go take a hike! Here's how it goes:

Ingredients: For 2 servings

• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, diced
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup Arborio rice
• 1/2 cup White Wine
• 3/4 lb Medium Shrimp, cleaned, de-veined, tail off, cut into halves
• Bunch of Asparagus, cut into 1/2-3/4 inch pieces
• 1 Large or 2 Medium Tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 cup Parmiggiano cheese, grated
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
The Veggies: Warm the garlic in a skillet with some olive oil. You don't need to use that much oil because the asparagus will sweat out some water while they cook. Add in the chopped asparagus and mix so they get coated in the oil and garlic. After about 5 minutes, add in the chopped tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Let cook covered with a lid  until tomatoes are softened. Set aside.

The Shrimp: Season the cut shrimp with salt, cracked pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. Warm olive oil in a skillet and toss in the shrimp. Let them cook HALF WAY - i.e. half grey, half pink. They will continue cooking in the risotto. Set aside.

half way cooked

The Risotto:

In a small saucepan, bring chicken broth to a simmer and keep warm over low heat.

In a separate, large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat and add in olive oil. Add in onion and cook until translucent. Add rice and cook for 2 minutes, stirring to coat each grain. When rice begins to make a crackling sound, add the white wine. Stir constantly, letting the the wine cook off and the rice to absorb the wine. After about 90 seconds, add in 1 ladle of the warm chicken broth and stir until the rice has absorbed the liquid. Repeat this adding the remaining broth, one ladle at a time. Continue to stir, allowing the rice to absorb each addition of broth before adding more.

Before you are about to add in your last ladle, add in the grated parmiggiano and mix in well. Now add in the shrimp and stir all together, allowing the shrimp to continue cooking.  Add in salt and cracked black pepper to taste. Add the remaining chicken broth along with the asparagus and tomatoes into the risotto and let cook together until all liquid is absorbed. Test the rice to see if it is done, it should be somewhat al dente but creamy. Add additional salt / pepper as needed.

Let cook until all liquid is absorbed, but make sure to not over cook ! Shrimp will fully cook in the risotto.

Crack some pepper and enjoy!