shells from about 3 lbs of shrimp

1 cup of chopped celery

1/2 cup of chopped carrot

1 cup of chopped onion

1/2 bunch of parsley, coarsely chopped

1 bay leaf

1 lemon, quartered

4 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed

1/8 cup black peppercorns

1 tablespoon kosher salt

put all the ingredients in a small stock pot and cover with about 8 cups of cold water. bring to a simmer and skim off the foam that rises to the top. continue to simmer for 45 minutes. strain through a fine mesh strainer or chinois. at this point, you can cool and freeze the stock or keep it warm on the stove and use it right away. you can still freeze whatever stock you have left over. i ended up using half of my stock for the risotto tonight and freezing the other half for shrimp bisque that i will share with you in a future post!

now you have the key ingredient to make your shrimp risotto. here is my recipe…

shrimp risotto (makes 4 servings)

1 lb peeled and deveined shrimp

4 garlic cloves chopped fine (you can use a garlic press for this)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 small spanish onion, diced

1 cup carnaroli or arborrio rice (i prefer carnaroli)

about 5 cups shrimp stock (keep warm on the stove)

1/2 cup fresh peas (you can use frozen)

2 tablespoons chopped italian parsley 

marinate the shrimp in 2 tablespoons olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper for about an hour. in a heavy bottomed sauce pan, (i used a 3 1/2 quart le creuset french oven) heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the butter. add the marinated shrimp and saute until it just turns pink. (about 4 minutes). remove the shrimp and set aside. in the same pan, saute the onion until soft and translucent. add the rice and stir to coat in the fat. saute for about 2 minutes. don’t brown! start adding the warm stock, 2 ladle-fulls at a time. stir with a wooden spoon and let the rice absorb most of the liquid before adding more. you’ll repeat this step about 5 times. when the rice is creamy, but still al dente, add the shrimp back in along with the peas. cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 more minutes. (the risotto should be creamy and oozy, but not runny). season to taste with salt and pepper, transfer to a serving platter and sprinkle with the chopped parsley.

making good risotto is definitely an exercise in patience. at some point in the process you may wonder if all your hard work is worth it. it is! once you taste the finished product you’ll forget about the work and your mind will wander to your next risotto adventure. maybe mushroom or even lobster will be on the menu next!