I love risotto. There’s just something so comforting it. One of the things which always put us off cooking risotto in our house is the stirring. Neither of us want to stand by the stove for half an hour, no matter how much of a shoulder and arm workout it is. We like fast food. It was to my absolute delight when the Chefs at TAFE instructed us to stir our risotto as little as possible. It’ll never work, I though, but I have since made many delicious risottos this way. The grains are less mushy and the texture of the rice works beautifully with the crunch and bitiness of the peas and prawns.
On a nutrition note, white rice isn’t super healthy so if you want to mix things up a bit you could try using short grain brown rice. You will need to double the liquid and the cooking time. Alternatively, this could be adapted for quinoa. Follow the instruction exactly, in this case.
¾ cup (120ml) vegetable or fish stock
¼ cup (60ml) white wine
1 teaspoon (5g) butter
1 leek finely sliced
½ cup (100g) arborio or carnaroli rice
200g green (raw) prawns
100g frozen peas
Heat the stock and wine in a small saucepan.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, melt the butter and add the leek. Cover the saucepan and sweat the leek over a low heat until soft, stirring occasionally.
Once the leek is soft add in the rice and toast briefly. Add the stock mixture and simmer gently for about 20 minutes.
At this point most of the liquid will have absorbed and the rice will be a little crunchy but nearly done. Add the prawns to the pan and gently stir through the rice. Cover the saucepan and continue to cook gently for 5 minutes. Stir through the peas and cover again. Cook for a further 2 minutes.
Serves 2
