This isn't just any old "prawn risotto"! This delicious prawn and tomato risotto is made using a simple but flavoursome tomato stock and topped with delicious fresh Mooloolaba prawns that have been tossed in my spicy miso butter. Are you hungry yet?
sponsored by Marri Wood Park, Yallingup, WA
Why You Will Love This Recipe
Risotto is pure comfort food for me. I can eat it all year round and just feel happy. On a cold day or evening it will warm your soul, on a sunny afternoon on your deck with a glass of white wine it's a joy to eat. We often think of risotto as something that is very hard to make, expensive and time-consuming but the truth is it isn't.
The basis of any risotto is shallots (or brown onions), garlic, Arborio rice, white wine, stock & Parmesan cheese. After that, you can add any seasonal vegetables you want. You can pick up most of these ingredients for about $10 and being sensible you can add any additions for not much more. Unless you are feeling a little "fancy"
Check out a few of my other creations below!
So in a nutshell here is why risotto and this prawn and tomato risotto are so good!
- cost-effective
- easier than you think
- tasty
- feeds a crowd
- warms your soul
- perfect for a "fancy" dinner party
How To Make Prawn & Tomato Risotto
As mentioned the base for risotto is shallots or brown onions, garlic, wine, stock, Parmesan cheese and Arborio rice. To make my Italian prawn risotto with tomatoes and miso butter you need a few extra things so check out the headers below and follow the instructions and you are well on your way to a delicious prawn and tomato risotto.
Ingredients for Prawn & Tomato Risotto
- shallots - diced finely
- garlic - crushed
- stock - keep it warm in a saucepan
- Arborio rice
- white wine
- Parmesan cheese - grated
- prawns
- nori
- miso butter
How To Make Tomato Stock
A handful of ingredients, an oven and a blender is all you need! Roast your tomatoes in the oven with some olive oil and salt. Feel free to add garlic, chilli or herbs too but given we are using a spicy miso butter with the prawns and garlic in the base of the risotto I didn't. Once the tomatoes are roasted (about 20 minutes for cherry tomatoes) blitz them up in the food processor. Then add your vegetable or chicken stock to it and blitz it some more - it's that simple! This will form the stock base for your prawn risotto and give it that beautiful red colour too!
Miso Butter
I can't get enough of miso! The Japanese really do have a handle on flavour bombs! Fermented soy beans, salt and koji makes this long lasting paste simply delicious. Available in most grocery stores, once opened store in the fridge!
To make the butter, simply mix miso paste with softened butter, a squeeze of lime and a pinch of cayenne pepper. It works wonderfully on vegetables, as a steak sauce or basted over pan-fried fish. Here I fry the prawns and then add the miso butter at the end to coat them. Top the prawn risotto with those bad boys and drizzle any remaining pan butter on top too!
Toasted Nori
Often when we talk about food we talk about flavour and texture. We get our texture in this prawn risotto in a couple of ways - perfectly cooked al dente Arborio rice, from the prawn tails (not sure about you but I love those crispy suckers!) and through simply toasting nori.
Nori is dried edible seaweed used in Japanese cooking - simply the green stuff you see wrapped around your sushi! To toast the nori hold the corner of the sheet with tongs and gently wave it over an open flame on your gas range. Be careful to continuously move it as it can burn easily but a little char on the corner never killed anyone 😉
Once toasted then roll the nori into a cylinder shape and slice the nori into little matchsticks and top your delicious prawn risotto with these beauties!
Tips & FAQ's For A Successful Risotto
The key to a successful risotto is through being prepared. Make sure all your ingredients are ready to go before you start. Dice the onion, crush the garlic, grate the cheese or have it ready to be grated into the risotto, weigh out your butter and have your stock heated.
I think that's probably the best "tip" I can give to nailing this Italian prawn risotto. Once your stock is ready keep it warm in a saucepan on a low heat so that you add hot liquid to a hot pan. Otherwise your risotto will take FOREVER to make and it'll be a soupy mess too!
Yes, to a degree it can. To make risotto in advance you cook it about 1/2 of the way through and then lay it out flat on a baking tray with a criss cross pattern through it. This helps to cool it quicker. Then, all you need to do is heat the stock up and put the risotto into a pan and continue cooking as you previously did
The simpe answer is taste it. The first time you make risotto don't be afraid to taste it regularly to see how the rice cooks and feels. Risotto should be slightly al dente when bitten so once you are at the stage you like it to taste then remove it from the heat and stir through the Parmesan
Personally, I wouldn't recommend it. It can be done but freezing and defrosting it can change the texture and leave you with a grainy feeling. Risotto will keep for up to 5 days in the fridge.
Marri Wood Park Winery
This isn't the first time you will have read or heard me talk about the wonderful bio-dynamic winery in Yallingup, WA. It's family-run and operated and has been on the map since 1992. The first recipe I created for them was a delicious veal cutlet to pair with their Chenin blanc - a cracking wine. Since then I have enjoyed their Pet Nat (Bratty Nat), Cabernet Sauvignon, a Savvy B with my English Pea Salad and an aged Chenin from 2009. All didn't last long once I opened them. Although I have tucked a few Chenin away for the future so am excited to see how well it ages.
Sauvignon/Semillon Wine Pairing
As winter looms here in Australia we are turning to more reds and hearty meals but somedays you just want and need a cold crisp white wine. Cue the Marri Wood Park Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon. So with that in mind, I figured let's create a delicious prawn risotto to pair perfectly with the wine and to warm us up nicely too!
The wine itself is fermented in steel casks (as is most Sauvignon Blanc) and the Semillon part for 2 months in French oak. Typically drunk young, the wine has wafts of sea salt, apple and blackcurrant in the nose. There is lemon, notes of pea and some nuttiness coming through on the palate too. The Semillon adds a little extra body to the wine taking it away from being one that is simply knocked back in the sun as most Sauvignon Blancs are too one that has structure, elegance and is equally drinkable too 😉
Cook up this delicious prawn & tomato risotto, crack a bottle and waste away your Sunday afternoon!
Alternative Risotto Recipes
Inspired by my risotto with prawns and miso butter? Check out these other recipes on my site and give them a go too!
Happy Cooking & Happy Eating Friends!!
Ingredients
Risotto
- 1 cup Arborio rice
- 1 shallot
- 75 ml white wine
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 100 g butter split 25/75
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup parmesan grated
- 1 litre stock see below
Tomato Stock
- 1 litre vegetable stock
- 500 g cherry tomatoes
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- salt
Miso Prawns
- 12 prawns
- 1 tsp white miso
- 1 pinch cayenne
- 1 tsp lime
- 40 g softened butter
Garnish - optional
- 1 sheet nori
Essential Tools
- Chef Knives
- Chopping board
- Measuring utensils
- small saucepan
- wide sided frying pan
- soup ladle
- baking tray
Instructions
Stock
- Roast the tomatoes with olive oil and pinch of salt for 15 minutes @ 180c
- Add tomatoes to stock and blend until smooth
Miso Prawns
- Mix butter, cayenne, lime & miso together – set aside until ready to use
- Once risotto is nearly finished fry prawns for 2 minutes per side in a little olive oil, add the miso butter and toss for 1 minute
Nori Garnish
- Toast the nori over gas flame for a minute until lightly toasted – when doing so you need to use tongs and wave the nori gently so that it doesn’t catch on fire
- Roll the nori and slice finely
Risotto
- Place stock in a saucepan and simmer on a low heat ready to use
- Sweat the shallot and garlic in olive oil and 25g butter for 2-3 minutes
- Add rice and cook for a further minute
- Add wine to deglaze the pan and cook until almost all has evaporated
- Add stock to risotto one ladle at a time, stirring regularly. Doing so until you have only 1 ladle left – fry prawns
- Add the last ladle of stock and a moment later add the 75g butter and parmesan cheese
Serve
- Remove risotto from the heat and divide evenly onto 4 plates
- Add 3 prawns per plate and any remaining butter in the pan
- Top with toasted nori
Notes
Tips/Tricks
- the nori will toast quickly so keep an eye on it and don’t hold it too close to the flame. If it catches fire just blow it out quickly – it should be fine unless you have burnt a giant hole in the middle!
- if you are not a tomato fan then you can use plain vegetable stock for the dish and maybe add some diced asparagus or peas as you put the last ladle of stock in
- always start with the stock hot. If you add cold stock to your rice not only will it take AGES to cook but your rice will turn to mush
- i always make a little extra stock just in case. You need to taste the rice for doneness as it may take a little more or less liquid to cook the risotto. The cooked risotto will taste slightly al dente but you may want a softer risotto so before adding the last ladle grab a spoon and taste!
- risotto can be made in advance too. If you cook the risotto about ½ of the way and then remove it from the heat and spread it out onto a sheet tray to cool you can then finish it within 5-10 minutes when guests arrive.
Talk about a fucking Umami experience! I spent two weeks in Milan learning how to make risotto some years back. This recipe with the miso prawns (don't allow that butter as a split) has to be the top three risottos of ever made. Gav, keep the recipes coming back.