Cue the chirping birds, warmer temperatures and longer days! Spring is finally here! I’ve been craving risotto, so in honor of the arrival of Spring, risotto primavera was the obvious move. Primavera means translates to Spring from Italian to English. Any time you see “primavera” in a recipe title, you can count on fresh spring vegetables to highlighted. If you’re a gardener with Spring harvest veggies, this recipe is one to have ready for your bounty! My risotto primavera features asparagus, peas, and lemon alongside perfectly roasted shrimp for a delightful Spring meal.
You may remember the HIH One Pan Butternut Squash + Bacon Risotto recipe I shared last Fall. In that post I shared all of secrets to a perfect risotto every time! If you’re new here or new to risotto, I encourage you click the link and give the Risotto 101 section a read. Risotto
Risotto is one of my favorite dishes because the basic ingredients and process to make a wonderful risotto are almost always the same. This allows for so many delicious variations without needing to learn a whole recipe from scratch! A simple, yet beautiful dish that’s anything but boring. This recipe may call for asparagus and peas, but there are so many other Spring veggies which would roast up wonderfully. Broccoli, leeks, and early season squash and zucchini would be so tasty!
Keys to Success
- Prep all of your ingredients before starting to cook. Make sure all of your ingredients are chopped, sliced, peeled, and easily accessible before you start to heat your pan. This doesn’t mean you can’t get the oven pre-heating while you chop. Go ahead and get that going so it’s ready to go as soon as you’re ready.
- Pat the shrimp dry. Dry shrimp will roast much better than shrimp with excess moisture which acts as a barrier to the olive oil and shrimp will roast vs. steam. Seasoning your shrimp with salt will also help dry up any excess moisture.
- You don’t need to be a shrimp snob. Is fresh shrimp the best way to go? Of course, but if you’re rural like me, you know how difficult fresh seafood is to come by at the grocery stores. I love using this frozen raw, peeled, deveined shrimp I find at Wal-mart for recipes like this one. Just thaw, double check for proper cleaning, dry it off and you’re ready to cook.
- Watch the salt! I may sound a bit like a hypocrite here, since I’m typically reminding HIH readers not to skimp on the seasoning, but there are several ingredients which already pack a salty punch. Parmesan cheese is naturally quite salty and even low-sodium chicken broth is pretty salty. Use caution when adding more salt to this dish until after you’ve added all of the broth and the parmesan cheese so you’re not over salting.
Risotto Primavera + Roasted Shrimp
Equipment
- large high sided skillet, "everyday pan" or braiser style dutch oven
- Wooden spoon
- slotted spoon or spatula
- Medium sauce pan
- ladle
- Measuring cups and spoons
- sharp chef's knife
- sheet pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup Arborio rice
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 lbs large shrimp, peeled and deveined
- ½ diced small yellow onion, approx 1/2 cup dice should mimic the size of the rice kernels
- 8 oz asparagus, woody ends removed and roughly chopped into 1" pieces
- ¾ cup shredded parmesan cheese
- ⅓ cup dry white wine can be replaced with additional broth or stock to be alcohol free.
- 4 cups low sodium chicken broth or stock,
- ½ cup frozen peas
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon red chili flake optional
- 1½ teaspoons finely chopped fresh mint optional
Instructions
- Prep all ingredients as noted in the ingredient list.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F
- Add the asparagus, shrimp, and garlic to a sheet pan followed by 2 tablespoon olive oil. Toss the ingredients until evenly coated. Spread to one layer, season with salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flake (optional), and lay the lemon slices on top.
- Roast in the oven for 10 minutes until the shrimp is opaque and pink. Remove from the oven and set aside.
- While the shrimp and asparagus roast, add the chicken stock to the sauce pan and begin to heat over medium heat.
- Begin to heat your risotto pan over medium heat. Add the remaining olive oil and allow to get hot. Once the oil is hot, add the onion and cook until translucent.
- Using a wooden spoon, stir in the rice until the kernels start to look translucent around the edges and there's a toasty smell coming from your pan. Deglaze the pan with the white wine, stirring until the rice has absorbed about ¾ of the wine.
- One ladle, ½-¾ of a cup, at a time, begin adding the hot chicken broth or stock to the rice mixture, stirring continuously until most of the liquid has been absorbed by the rice. Repeat until about 1 cup of chicken broth or stock remains.
- Add the parmesan cheese stir until the cheese has melted and evaluate the consistency. If the risotto seems too tight, repeat the above step with the remaining broth or stock until the desired consistency is achieved. Taste and add salt and/or pepper if necessary.
- Set the roasted sliced lemons aside for garnish and add the remaining contents of the sheet pan to the risotto along with the frozen peas. Stir to combine and heat until the temperature is consistent throughout.
- Serve immediately garnished with the roasted lemon, fresh mint, and parmesan cheese or store in the fridge and reheat over low heat adding about a ½ cup of additional chicken broth or stock and stirring until warm and smooth.
Notes
Nutrition
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