I love making risotto. It's time consuming, yes. Also can be quite fussy. It's easy to over or under cook, and when seasoning I find it's never salty enough until suddenly it's way too salty. I think of Gordon Ramsay doing his "angry chef" bit, yelling at some hapless hopeful on many a cooking reality show - "THIS IS INEDIBLE! YOU'RE USELESS! DO IT OVER!". So it could be the challenge, or the fact that it is so creamy and decadent when you hit it right.
I was going to make a shrimp risotto from Martha Stewart, but she calls for a pressure cooker which I don't have. I started looking for variations, and saw one recipe that called for clam juice with the shrimp. Well why not add clams as well I thought. I started by cooking them almost through with the can of clams and fresh thyme.
 |
| Shrimp. clams, and thyme |
I've seen a few recipes with tarragon, but SO can't eat/doesn't like tarragon so thought I'd try basil and thyme. I cooked the shrimp with thyme, and also made a little herb butter with more thyme and a fair bit of basil. The butter was added at the end to the dish, and also a little pat as garnish.
 |
| Shrimp and Clam Risotto with thyme butter |
Other than that, it's a pretty standard mushroom risotto with less mushrooms and lots of shrimp and clams. Even though this was shaping up to be a seafood risotto, I can't help but put mushrooms in. Mushrooms and risotto is kind of like pork and apple sauce, or orange and chocolate. The pairing is just too good.
Next Time: maybe try different seafood combinations, maybe different herbs
Me: 9/10
SO: 9.5/10
SSO: 3/10
