Prawn and Chorizo Risotto

Fork holding risotto above grey and white bowl of the same.

5 from 4 votes

Prawn and Chorizo Risotto is a quick and easy dinner recipe. Combining succulent, juicy prawns and spicy chorizo sauce with arborio rice.

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Total Time20

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Western

Keyword: prawn and chorizo risotto

Servings:

Calories: 832kcal

Author: Adrianne

Ingredients

2 chorizo sausage thinly sliced, Note 1
500 grams/ 1 pound prawns (shrimp) Note 2
¼ teaspoon salt Note 3
½ teaspoon black pepper
40 grams/ 3 tablespoons butter unsalted, chopped into small cubes, Note 4
2 tablespoon olive oil Note 5
1 tablespoon garlic chunky, chopped or 2-3 fresh garlic cloves finely chopped, Note 6
½ large onion peeled and finely diced, Note 7
½ cup/125 ml white wine Note 8
2 cups arborio rice Note 9
4 cups/ 1 litre chicken stock (chicken broth) Note 10
½ cup parmesan cheese finely grated from a block using a micro plane zester
3 cups spinach leaves firmly packed

Garnish (optional)

parmesan cheese
black pepper

Instructions

Chorizo: use a knife and cutting board to thinly slice the chorizo into pieces. Once done place a large non stick sauté pan on the stove top, turn the heat to high and cook the chorizo for 2-3 minutes using a wooden spoon to rotate and stir as you go. Once the chorizo is cooked and looking a little charred and browned on the surface, transfer it out of the pan and onto a paper towel lined bowl.
Prawns: prepare the prawns by using a cutting board and starting by twisting their heads off. Then peel the shell and legs, leaving the tail and end segment intact. Next use a knife and cut along the backbone of the prawns and remove the digestive tract. Repeat for all of the prawns.
Cook prawns: without rinsing or cleaning the pan that the chorizo was cooked in add the prawns, salt and pepper. Cook the prawns for 3-4 minutes until they have turned bright orange with white flesh and their is no translucent skin. Once they are cooked, transfer them to the plate with the cooked chorizo.
Flavor base: again without rinsing or cleaning the pan add the butter, olive oil and garlic. Cook this stirring as you go for 1 minute. Then add the diced onion and stir to combine.
White, rice and stock: once the onion has had a chance to cook (1 minute or so), add the white wine followed by the rice. Use the wooden spoon to stir the pan contents until the rice separates slightly and mixes in with the butter and oil mixture. Once it has gradually pour in the stock, stirring as you go and not adding more until the stock in the pan has somewhat absorbed.
Cheese and spinach: when the rice mixture has thickened slightly add the parmesan cheese and give it a stir. Then add the spinach and allow it to soften and wilt into the pan.
Chorizo and prawns: next add the cooked chorizo and prawns back to the pan then gently stir folding these in and allowing them to heat through.
Garnish: once the dish is consistently mixed in and heated through liberally garnish it with black pepper and parmesan cheese.
To serve: provide bowls and spoons for serving then portion and serve.

Notes

Note 1 - Chorizo: a spicy sausage that you will be able to get from the Woolworths/Coles deli section or a 2 pack from the cold aisle where the cold meat cuts like bacon and salami are. Aldi also sells these in their fridge section as a 2 pack.
Note 2 - Prawns: also known as shrimp. We get the best results if we peel and devein these ourselves. Leaving the tail on is optional - it does add to the visual effect of the risotto.
Note 3 - Salt and pepper: we use salt and a little bit of black pepper for seasoning in the recipe. We want to use 'cooking salt' (kosher salt). You will also find that a sprinkling of black pepper is a great way to serve the finished dish.
Note 4 - Butter: opt for an unsalted butter. As we use salt as a separate ingredient, we want to be mindful to not over salt the flavour combination 😁👌.
Note 5 - Olive oil: the olive oil helps to create the risotto base and gets mixed in with the butter and garlic.
Note 6 - Garlic: is it even cooking if we are not using garlic in the recipe 😂. You can use 2-3 fresh garlic cloves finely chopped or chunky chopped garlic from a jar like you see in the photo above.
Note 7 - Onion: we want to use half a large brown onion. All we need to do is peel the skin and then finely dice it.
Note 8- White wine: I use a cheap wine and it is usually a pinot gris. $8-$10 a bottle is all you need. This adds a lovely sweetness to the risotto rice base.
Note 9 - Arborio rice: this is a special type of rice, perfect to use to make risotto as it absorbs liquids very well. It will be labelled 'arborio rice' at the supermarket and found with the long grain white rice and other packed rice varieties.
Note 10 - Chicken stock: we need 4 cups which is 1 litre and a standard size regular carton of stock (chicken broth).
Note 9 - Parmesan cheese: the parmesan cheese is best freshly grated from a block using a micro plane zester. This makes it super soft and positively melt worthy.
Note 11 - Spinach: the addition of fresh baby spinach leaves allows us to get a vegetable into the risotto. We simply cook it till it wilts and mixes in.

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