Saturday, March 1, 2008

When Life Hands You Lemons...


... make lemon risotto! (Or, if you prefer something sweeter, Slammin' Citrus Squares.) I love risotto and am always eager to try new recipes. When I saw this recipe for lemon risotto on Williams-Sonoma, I immediately bookmarked it. So when I found a bag of frozen shrimp in the freezer and decided to make the marinated grilled shrimp, this seemed like the perfect accompaniment. I was not disappointed. The creamy, lemony flavor of this dish complimented the shrimp really well.

Next time, I will probably half this recipe, because it's just the two of us and this recipe yielded quite a bit. If you've never made risotto before, I highly recommend you try it. If you decide to go for it, make sure you check out my tips for making risotto here.

Lemon Risotto
from Williams-Sonoma

3 cups chicken stock or reduced-sodium chicken broth (use vegetable broth to make this vegetarian)
5 Tbs. unsalted butter
3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
3 Tbs. minced shallots
2 1/4 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup coarsely grated lemon zest
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus shaved cheese for garnish
Salt, to taste
1/4 cup minced fresh chervil (optional)

In a saucepan over high heat, combine the chicken stock and 3 1/2 cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and maintain a simmer.

In another saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 Tbs. of the butter with the olive oil. Add the shallots and sauté until translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the rice and stir until it is opaque, about 3 minutes. Add about 3/4 cup of the simmering stock, adjust the heat to maintain a simmer and cook, stirring, until most of the stock is absorbed, about 3 minutes. Continue adding the stock, about 3/4 cup at a time and stirring constantly, until all but about 1/2 cup of the stock has been used, the rice is nearly tender and still slightly firm in the center, and the mixture is creamy, 20 to 25 minutes.

Add the lemon juice to the remaining 1/2 cup stock and add the mixture, little by little, to the rice along with the remaining 3 Tbs. butter, the lemon zest and the grated cheese, always stirring constantly. Taste and adjust the seasonings with salt.

Stir in the chervil. Transfer to a serving bowl, garnish with shavings of cheese and serve immediately.

Yield: 6 Servings.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma, Christmas Entertaining,by Georgeanne Brennan (Simon & Schuster, 2005 ).

13 comments:

  1. Mmm, this looks so great. I love risotto and the shrimp looks good too. You may want to give Emeril's shrimp risotto with lemon (I am probably getting the name wrong) a try. It's pretty good! I didn't blog about it because my camera batteries were dead that night :)

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  2. Thanks Elly! I will have to look for that one :)

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  3. Very interesting recipe: I have never had risotto with lemons. I will definitely try it.

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  4. Wow - lemon risotto. Whodathunk? This is one that I would definitely like to veganize.

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  5. Mmm, risotto. I really need to make it more often. Thanks for the recipe.

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  6. I don't often (well, ever) have lemons here, but limes are always in abundance in my refrigerator. There are times I am looking for ways to use them up...I will hang onto this one. Thanks! Oh, and you have sure been busy! 3 posts popped up overnight! Wow!

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  7. Yay!!!! I've had this recipe bookmarked for a while as well, but because it is risotto I assumed it contained wine and that I would need to wait to try it. Now that I see it posted here, I realize there is no wine. I'm definitely making this soon!

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  8. Risotto is my favorite dish, Jaime - let me know what time is dinner 'cause I don't want to get there late! :)

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  9. I'd have never thought of putting lemons in risotto! sounds fantastic.

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  10. Just made this last night and it was delicious! Thank you for the risotto tips. This was my first time making risotto and it turned out great.

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  11. michelle, i'm so glad you liked it! great job! :) (I know how intimidated i was the first time i made risotto)

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  12. Another great recipe! This was perfect with amberjack. :)

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