Shrimp and Corn Risotto

 

While fresh corn on the cob is bountiful in markets, this is a great way to enjoy it. This risotto is delicious with just the shrimp and fresh cherry tomatoes if you don't live where fresh corn is in season. Heck, you can even eliminate the cherry tomatoes and make it a strictly shrimp risotto. I prefer to use yellow corn, rather than white, since it adds a prettier contrast to the rice. But markets here in New Jersey seem to have decided everyone wants white corn, and it's unfortunately difficult to find the yellow, so I have to be content with white most of the time. I used shrimp from the Carolinas that were purchased fresh off a boat close to our summer home in New Jersey. I may be overly cautious, but I try to buy seafood only from U.S. waters, where quality control seems more likely than in far-off Asian seas. Season the shrimp first with salt, pepper and paprika, and sear them on high heat. Then set them aside on a plate. You don't need to thoroughly cook the shrimp, since they'll finish cooking at the end when you add them to the risotto.

 I used my own homemade broth to make the risotto, made with the shrimp shells and the cobs after the corn was stripped. This broth keeps well in the freezer too. It really adds tremendous flavor to the dish, but if you don't want to make it, get some clam juice or seafood broth from the store. Add some fresh thyme at the end, as well as a couple of tablespoons of butter, and you'll be lapping up every morsel on the plate.

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Shrimp and Corn Risotto

printable recipe here

1/2 pound shrimp

salt, pepper and paprika

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup arborio rice

3 cups broth (I used homemade broth made with corn cobs and shrimp shells)

1 shallot

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 cup white wine

about half a dozen cherry tomatoes, cut in half

2 ears of corn, stripped from the cob

fresh thyme to sprinkle in

1 tablespoons butter to stir in at the end

Season the shrimp with salt, pepper and paprika.

Sear the shrimp over high heat in a pan with some olive oil (about 2 tablespoons).

Do not need to cook the shrimp all the way through since they will cook further in the risotto.

Remove the shrimp from the pan.

Saute the minced shallot in a saucepan with the olive oil and butter until softened.

Do not let the shallots brown.

Add the raw rice and stir with the shallots, butter and olive oil over medium heat.

Add the white wine and stir.

Add a ladle ful of broth at a time, stirring all the while for the rice to absorb the liquid.

Keep adding liquid for another 15 minutes, until almost cooked.

Add the shrimp, the cherry tomatoes and the raw corn and stir.

Keep adding more liquid until the risotto is cooked and there is still a bit of liquid in the pan and movement to the risotto.

If you shake the pan, it will make an "onda" or wave.

Stir in the butter and serve.