Prawn, Sweet Cicely and Tomato Risotto is a traditional Italian recipe for a classic risotto of rice cooked in a wine, tomato and vegetable stock (or chicken stock) base until creamy that's flavoured with sweet cicely leaves and finished with prawns. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Italian version of: Prawn, Sweet Cicely and Tomato Risotto.
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Note that the sweet cicely is not an essential part of this risotto, you could substitute other herbs like flat-leaf parsley, lemon thyme, basil or lemon verbena.
Ingredients:
550g prawns (with shells)
1.25l vegetable or chicken stock
85g unsalted butter
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
300g risotto rice
1 sprig of rosemary
1 bayleaf
250g ripe tomatoes, blanched, peeled and chopped
350ml dry white wine
2 tbsp chopped parsley
3 tbsp chopped sweet cicely
30g Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
strips of red bell pepper, to garnish
salt and black pepper, to taste
Method:
Peel the prawns, separately reserving the flesh and shells. Heat 15g of butter in a large pan and when foaming add the prawn shells and heads. Stir-fry until they turn pink then add 600ml water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes. Strain into a bowl and discard the shells.
Remove the prawn guts (the black line down the back) if desired (personally, I never do this, but I'm used to West African cooking and eating where the heads and everything are eaten).
Return the stock to a simmer and keep hot. Now melt 45g butter in a pan, use to fry the shallots and garlic very gently until soft and translucent then add the rosemary, rice and bayleaf to the pan and stir-fry for 1 minute, until the rice is coated in the butter and becomes translucent. Add the tomatoes, parsley and wine. Stir continuously until all the wine has been absorbed then add a generous ladle of stock. Continue cooking, stirring all the while, until all the stock has been absorbed then add another ladle of stock. Carry on like this until the rice is tender (but retains some bite). The consistency at this point should be slightly 'soupy' as the mixture still has a little while to cook yet. This process should take about 25 minutes.
Season with salt and plenty of pepper and raise to the lowest simmer possible. Now add the prawns and sweet cicley and cook, stirring all the while for a further 2 to 3 minutes, until the prawns are heated through and have turned pink.
Finally add the remaining butter and the cheese, adjust the seasonings and serve.
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