Prawn Risotto (Shrimp Risotto)

Risotto with prawns and asparagus in grey bowl with fork and spoon.

5 from 4 votes

Prawn Risotto is a quick and easy recipe perfect any night of the week! With succulent juicy prawns, asparagus and peas in a parmesan rice.

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: prawn risotto, risotto with prawns

Servings:

Calories: 1392kcal

Author: Adrianne

Ingredients

500 grams/ 1 pound prawns (shrimp) Note 1
2 tablespoon olive oil Note 2
¼ teaspoon salt Note 3
½ teaspoon black pepper
40 grams/ 3 tbs butter unsalted, Note 4
1 tbs garlic chunky chopped, minced or 2-3 fresh garlic cloves finely diced, Note 5
½ large brown onion skin peeled and finely diced, Note 6
2 cups arborio rice Note 7
½ cup/ 125 ml white wine Note 8
4 cups/1 litre chicken stock Note 9
1 cup frozen peas Note 10
2 bunches asparagus ends trimmed, cut into quarters, Note 11
½ cup parmesan cheese finely grated using a micro plane zester, Note 12

Garnish (optional):

black pepper
parmesan cheese

Instructions

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 this process for all of the prawns.
Cook prawns: place a large sauté pan on the stove top, turn the heat to high, add the olive oil, prawns, salt and pepper. Cook the prawns for 2-3 minutes per side until they have turned bright orange with white flesh and there is no translucent skin. Once they are cooked, use a slotted spoon to remove them from the pan and place them onto a paper towel lined plate.
Butter, onion and garlic: without rinsing or cleaning the pan we used to cook the prawns, add the butter, garlic and onion. Stir this mixture till the butter melts and then let the garlic and onion cook for 1 minute.
Rice, wine and stock: once the garlic and onion have softened, add the Arborio rice and use a wooden spoon to stir and coat the rice in the butter mixture. Once the rice has a shiny look about it, pour in the wine and let it sizzle. Next gradually (not all at once) add the stock to the pan and stir with a wooden spoon to let it absorb bit by bit. Then continue to slowly add the stock and stir as you go.
Peas, asparagus and parmesan: just before all of the stock has absorbed add the frozen peas and stir. They need 1-2 minutes in the risotto to thaw and cook. Once they have done add the asparagus and give it 1-2 minutes to soften and cook. Once it has add the parmesan cheese and stir to melt this, allowing it to combine with the rest of the risotto.
Cooked prawns: next add the cooked prawns back to the pan and gently allow them to heat through.
Garnish: generously garnish the dish with black pepper and parmesan cheese. Provide bowls, forks and spoons for serving then head to the table!

Notes

Note 1 - Prawns: also known as shrimp by my American friends. We want to buy fresh prawns (shrimp) and peel and devein them ourselves. If you are tired and running low on energy, you can use store bought peeled prawns with or without the tails on to save a little bit of prep time.
Note 2 - Olive oil: we use a little bit of olive oil to cook the prawns in. We also don't want to clean or rinse the pan after the prawns have cooked as we have already started to create the flavours in the recipe and some of the residual oil holds this flavor within.
Note 3 - Salt and pepper: we use salt and a little bit of black pepper for seasoning when we are cooking the prawns.
Note 4 - Butter: we use a small amount of butter to help cook the onion and garlic as well as to create a standard risotto recipe flavor base. Unsalted is best as we add salt as a separate ingredient in the risotto (when cooking the prawns/shrimp).
Note 5 - Garlic: we use a little bit of garlic along with the butter and onion to create the rice flavour base for the risotto.
Note 6 - Onion: we use ½ large brown onion. Simply peel the skin and finely dice it.
Note 7 - Arborio rice: this is a special type of rice that absorbs a lot of liquid. Also known as risotto rice it is more robust and paler than regular white rice.
Note 8 - White wine: I like to use a pinot gris when making risottos. It can be a cheap bottle too, no need for anything fancy. A white wine in the $8-$10 range will do the trick 😉👌.
Note 9 - Chicken stock: also known as chicken broth. This liquid gets absorbed by the rice as the risotto cooks.
Note 10 - Peas: frozen peas from the freezer are what we want to use. Regular or baby green peas will both work well. We add these in their frozen state and let them thaw and cook before we add the asparagus. You will find however, that they cook very quickly due to the already hot contents of the pan.
Note 11 - Asparagus: you can use either regular or baby asparagus. We want 2 bunches that we trim the ends off and then slice the rest of the spears into quarter segments.
Note 12 - Parmesan cheese: freshly grated from a block of parmesan cheese using a micro plane zester is best. This delivers soft, melty cheese that holds its own in the rice mixture.

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