Brandy and Brown Butter Risotto
This simple Shrimp Risotto is the perfect weeknight meal, made from a handful of ingredients, and so comforting!
Oh risotto, how I love you. Some might consider its need for frequent stirring to be a burden, but with all those aromatics, I think it’s a privilege and a pleasure to stand over the pot and stir. There’s a reason why risotto is popular restaurant food. It’s good stuff. I always mean to save some leftovers so I can make arancini (fried risotto balls), but I never have any leftover. The good news for home cooks is risotto is not difficult to make at all, and doesn’t require much more than diligent stirring and good ingredients.
The Brandy is so aromatic and the nuttiness of the brown butter is heavenly with the juicy shrimp and starchy rice. I always have all the ingredients in my kitchen so I can have risotto whenever I desire.
Brandy and Brown Butter Risotto
Ingredients
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1 cup finely chopped red or yellow onion
- 1.5 cups Arborio rice
- 1/4 cup Brandy liqueur
- 3/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- 1/4 cup chopped Parsley (or Chervil, or Basil)
- 1/2 pound shrimp (or lobster, or other shellfish), cooked
Instructions
- In a medium pot, bring the chicken stock to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Put the lid on to keep it hot (you never want to add cold stock to hot risotto).
- In a large and wide saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Once melted, cook the butter for a couple minutes until it turns brown. The butter is first going to foam a bit, then it will take on that brown color you want. You see the white foamy stuff? Those are the milk solids, and they burn very easily. The most important thing to do when browning your butter is to make sure you don’t walk away from it.
- Add the onion and cook for 4 minutes, just to soften slightly. Add the rice and stir for 3-4 minutes (we are toasting the rice…smell how aromatic it is)! Add the Brandy and simmer until it evaporates, about 3 minutes. Add a few ladles of stock to the rice, just enough to cover the surface of the rice.
- Stir until the stock is absorbed, then repeat the process, until the stock is all gone (this should take about 15-20 minutes). Now, taste the rice. Does it taste crunchy at all? If it does, add more stock if you have it. If you don’t have more stock, add white wine. If you don’t have any white wine, add water. Remove your risotto from the heat, and beat in the parmigiano, 1 tbsp of butter, and desired herbs with a wooden spoon. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
7 Comments on “Brandy and Brown Butter Risotto”
How did you cook the shrimp? Boiled or sauteed?
You can quickly saute them in butter. Unless the shrimp are very large, they should cook in a couple minutes. You can also add them raw to the risotto at the end, and cook for a couple minutes that way, until they turn pink.
Yum!! This was delish!! It took me a little longer than 20 minutes and my rive was still crunchy after all the stock. I added whole milk and it was great!! I also potbelly garlic and green onions at the end! Thanks for sharing!
Dang that predictive text! Added garlic, not potbelly! And rice, not rive!
That was very resourceful adding the whole milk in! I’m glad you enjoyed making it! It’s such a treat to smell all the aromatic ingredients, right?
All I can say is WOW – I am certainly going to cook this one. Thankyou
Ummm time to move beyond white wine to brandy in the risotto… Sounds so perfect and cozy for a winter dish!