Submitted by Alan Mothner
Ingredients:
- 1/2 lb peeled shrimp
- Italian Salad Dressing (wishbone is fine)
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 onion
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper (not regular pepper)
- 1.5 cups arborio rice
- 1 (14 oz can) drained quartered artichoke hearts
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- side salad
Preparation:
Step one: marinade about a half pound of peeled shrimp in good old Italian dressing (nothing fancy, Wishbone is fine). Use enough to cover the shrimp and let it sit for at least 30 minutes in the fridge.
Step two: open a bottle of wine, or a beer or pour yourself a brown drink. This is important for two reasons: first – cooking is always better if you have something to sip on while you cook; and second – because you can.
Step three: pull the shrimp out of the marinade and saute on med-high for about 4 minutes or until they are bright pink. Set aside when done.
Step four: in a separate saucepan, bring to a boil 4 cups of chicken broth. Turn to low and keep at a simmer during the whole cooking process.
Step five: chop up 1/2 an onion and saute in a large heavy bottomed saucepan with 4 tablespoons of butter. Add 1 teaspoon thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon white pepper (not regular pepper). Cook on medium heat until onions are translucent, but not brown.
Step six: Stir in 1 1/2 cups of arborio rice to the onion mixture and mix around until it is all coated – about 1-2 minutes.
Step seven: Add 2 cups of the chicken broth and mix well with the rice and onions, stirring often. Now here comes the hard part (Sure, go ahead and pour yourself another drink at this point). Once the chicken broth is mostly absorbed, continue to add the broth to the rice mixture about a half a cup at a time until it is absorbed each time. STIR ALWAYS. Keep adding the remaining broth until it all gets absorbed and the risotto is a creamy consistency.
Step eight: stir in 1 can (14 oz.) of quartered artichoke hearts (drained) and mix well with risotto.
Step nine: turn off heat and stir in 1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese.
Step ten: Serve on plates, top with shrimp, and serve with a nice salad on the plate as well (they sell these salads in bags at Publix – even the fancy kale salads – super easy)
