There are some common themes I’ve noticed in my kitchen since I started this food blog ”“ cold food and dinner guests. Cold food because it takes time for Mikee to get a blog-worthy photograph and dinner guests because, well, the food, the company and the fun.

Abry, Isaac, Jermaine and Elise came over for Vietnamese rice paper roll feast on Monday but unfortunately we couldn’t get a decent photograph to post. This is not always a bad thing. This means that I get to cook the dish again very soon 🙂

On the contrary, having Nicole over for dinner makes for a beautiful photograph and a not-so-cold meal. We worked as a proper team for this meal. I did all the sous cheffing by preparing all the ingredients, Mikee whipped them up into the creamy, citrusy and spicy creation that you can see in the photograph and Nicole tapped into that creative prowess she has and did a magnificent job of food styling while Mikee shot the perfect photograph. Delicious.

Well done team!

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

6 cups chicken stock

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small brown onion, finely diced

1 teaspoon sea salt

50g butter

1 1/2 cups arborio rice

1 lemon, finely grated zest

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Freshly ground black pepper

2 small red chillies

2 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons olive oil, extra

15 tiger prawns – uncooked

Garnish

4 cups roughly chopped flat-leaf (Italian) parsley

Lemon wedges

Method:

1. Place the stock in a large saucepan and bring to the boil over a high heat. Reduce the heat and keep at simmering point.

2. Place a large heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat and add the olive oil, onion, salt, and half the butter. Stir until the onions are translucent.

3. Add the rice and stir for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the rice is well coated.

4. Gradually add all the simmering stock, a cupful at a time, stirring constantly and making sure the stock is absorbed before you add more. This should take 20 minutes and the rice should be al dente and creamy.

5. Remove the saucepan from the heat, and then stir in the remaining butter, lemon zest, lemon juice and pepper to taste.

6. Cover the saucepan and let sit for 3 minutes for the flavours to develop.

7. Meanwhile, pound the chilli and garlic in a mortar and pestle.

8. Place the extra olive oil in a frying pan over a high heat and heat until hot.

9. Season the prawns with salt and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes, shaking the pan, until the prawns are just opaque then add the chilli and garlic and cook for 1 minute.

10. Remove from the heat and set aside.

11. Stir the risotto and divide between four bowls.

12. Toss the prawns with the parsley then place on top of the risotto. Serve with lemon wedges. Serves 3-4.

 

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