photo courtesy of Rick Stacy

Every Thursday we bring Chef Jimmy from Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in studio to share cooking tips and recipes. This week, he brought with him a recipe for risotto that was so easy, even Rick could do it, and if Rick can do, we have every confidence that you can, too!

Risotto
Total preparation time: 60 minutes
Ingredients:

1 oz Olive oil
4 small minced Shallots
1 qt low sodium chicken broth
2 cups Arborio rice
4 oz shrimp per person, or 4-5 shrimp each person
3 tbsp truffle pieces or wild mushrooms, sliced thin
4 oz white wine
4 tbsp Tarragon minced
3 ea roma tomato concasse
4 oz butter whole
4 oz parmesan cheese
Kosher salt to taste
Fresh crack black pepper to taste

Method:
Sweat shallots in olive oil. Add rice. Add wine and reduce until almost dry like honey. Remember to season as you cook with salt and pepper.

Add broth to cover rice.  As the rice cooks, it absorbs liquid constantly, so add liquid to keep rice wet. Arborio rice is opaque, but as it cooks it becomes translucent, so when it looks like a frog egg with a tadpole inside it is almost done. At that point, finish with tarragon, truffle pieces (or mushrooms), and add raw shrimp. As the shrimp changes color stir in butter and fold in cheese. Serve.

Remember to adjust the heat so the rice simmers in the broth. Keep the broth in a separate pot warm if you want take shrimp shells and lightly heat in the bottom of pan (let them change color) then add broth to give a stronger flavor.