Sfringi
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Sfringi from Rocco's Italian-American - add to risotto
These deep fried cookies will be a nice end to your creamy risotto meal! Try it out!
White Truffle Risotto with a Gulf Shrimp Fondue
For me, risotto, with its creamy, 15-ply cashmere luxuriousness, is the ultimate blank canvas. Use it as a neutral platform for your favorite flavors. White truffles are hard to come by, and expensive. But this dish is forgiving: the risotto will be redol
1/4 cup olive oil
2/3 pound uncooked, head-on Gulf shrimp, peeled and deveined, heads severed and heads and shells reserved
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon chopped shallots (about 4 shallot lobes)
2 stalks lemongrass, chopped into shorter lengths and crushed
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/4 cup sherry
1/4 cup dry vermouth
5 medium tomatoes, 4 coarsely chopped and 1 peeled, seeded, and cut into large dice
Pinch cayenne pepper
6 sprigs fresh thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
2 teaspoons minced garlic
4 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1/4 cup dry white wine
2/3 cup truffle butter, preferably white truffle butter
1/4 cup chopped chervil or parsley
2 tablespoons fines herbs (a blend of chervil, parsley, tarragon and chives)
3 grams white truffles, shaved
Start by making a shrimp stock. In a saucepan over high heat, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil until smoking. Add shrimp heads and shells and sauté actively until they turn coral. Add 2 tablespoons of the shallots, lemongrass, and fennel seeds and stir until highly aromatic, about 3 minutes. Add sherry and reduce until pan is almost dry. Repeat with vermouth. Add the coarsely chopped tomatoes, cayenne pepper, and 2 sprigs of thyme and lower heat to medium. Simmer ingredients in the released tomato juice for 25 minutes.
Use an immersion blender to crush the ingredients to a lumpy purée. Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook stock until consistency is thick and viscous. Taste, and season with salt and pepper according to your preference. Set aside.
Prepare the tomato fondue. In a saucepan over low heat, warm 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Add 2 tablespoons shallots and 1 teaspoon garlic. Sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes, and add diced tomatoes to pan. Cook over low heat until the tomatoes have "melted" into a fondue: the tomatoes' juice will have evaporated, and the tomato pieces should be very tender but still have some form. (Do not cook them so long that they resemble a pasta sauce!)
Begin the risotto. Warm chicken stock over low heat in a saucepan. Keep at a simmer.
In a saucepan over medium-low heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Add 1 tablespoon of the shallots and 1 teaspoon garlic and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add rice and toast in oil until just golden. Add 4 remaining sprigs of thyme and white wine and allow liquid to come to a boil. Ladle chicken stock into rice one ladle at a time, allowing the rice to fully absorb each batch before adding more. Test rice frequently for doneness, and stop cooking when the texture of the risotto is tender yet toothsome. Discard thyme. Stir in truffle butter and chervil or parsley. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Cover to keep warm.
Finish the sauce. In a saucepan over medium-high heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter. Add shrimp and cook on one side only, until opaque and pink, 2 to 4 minutes. Remove shrimp from pan and keep warm. Add shrimp stock and tomato fondue to the same pan. Reduce heat to low and simmer just until warmed through and thick. Off the heat, add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in pieces to sauce and swirl pan to incorporate. Cut shrimp into bite-size pieces and drop in sauce. Stir in fines herbes.
To serve, divide risotto among 4 large or 6 small plates. Shave truffles over each serving of risotto. Spoon shrimp fondue alongside the risotto or serve separately in small soup bowls.
Published: 02/06/06
© Spirit Media 2004-2008 All Rights Reserved
