Lemon risotto and shrimp scampi.
We're going to start,
as with all risottos,
by warming the stock.
I'm gonna take about six cups
and add the peels from two small lemons.
And all of the broth will now taste like lemon.
It'll be infused with flavor.
(pot sizzling)
To my risotto pot, over about medium heat,
we're going to sweat a small, finely-chopped onion
with a little salt.
We do not want the onion to brown, so keep it moving.
And I have this in a couple tablespoons of olive oil.
We want to toast the rice.
I have one and a half cups for four portions
or four big bowls of risotto
of Carnaroli, short grain rice.
So once we get the rice in and toasting,
we can grate in our garlic.
Once it gets really fragrant,
you can add your first addition of liquid.
This is an Italian, not too expensive, wine from Tuscany.
Not too fruity.
And I go two slow turns of the pan,
about a half to two-thirds of a cup.
The shrimp you have to start
about 30 minutes before you want to cook it.
Very important step whenever we make Scampi
is to put some grated garlic,
couple of fat cloves per pound,
over the shrimp and the zest of of a lemon
and a little bit of red or black pepper, up to you,
and a little salt or fine sea salt.
Look, already, see?
You can see the bottom of the pot.
We're good- (audience applauding)
And so, we start adding in our first edition of our stock.
I'm going to add my second edition
of our lemon-scented stock.
And every time we add stock, we work the sides of the pan
and stir pretty vigorously.
I have this between medium and medium high,
and this should cook out in 18 minutes
if you keep it at kind of a low-rolling simmer.
In this pan, we're going to take the shrimp.
We're gonna add that to a non-stick skillet
over medium-high heat
so that we cook this quickly without overcooking it.
So we just toss these guys around.
(pan sizzling)
So as soon as I get them
just a little bit brown on each side,
over a high temp in the pan,
I'm gonna hit it with that vermouth and the lemon juice
mm, and some butter.
I know, the butter glosses the sauce,
as my mother always said.
So a fat splash of the vermouth,
cut side up so the seeds stay with the lemon,
don't fall down into your sauce,
a fat handful of parsley.
(metal clangs as pot sizzles)
And break up a big old gob of Italian butter.
Yeah!
Okay, she's a good to go.
So after I added the last of our liquid,
I also added the fresh peas.
They cook the last five minutes of the dish.
Remember the lemons that we took the whole peels from
to put into the stock pot?
Well, we took those lemons,
and I just stick a chopstick in the end
and juice it like,
you know those little fake lemons and limes
they have in the grocery store?
Kind of same thing.
And you can just throw this- (audience applauding)
in the fridge and use as much or as little as you like.
(audience continues applauding)
I like the tiniest drizzle of a little Acacia honey.
We add a big blob of butter, broken into pieces.
And we add in, I like to use both
tangy Pecorino, sheep's milk cheese,
and buttery, nutty Parmigiano.
So about a half, two-thirds cup of each.
(audience applauding)
And we've got about a cup of the fresh peas
that we cooked the last couple minutes in there.
And then I'm gonna stir in,
everybody can find these,
these are the pea tendrils
you can find in all the grocery stores, right?
And I put the larger tendrils in the dish,
and this is what we want out of our risotto,
is this horrible consistency
that's super creamy without adding cream.
Okay, so now we're gonna puddle up
yes, the lemon risotto.
spoon some of that Scampi
right up on top- (audience applauding)
And then, we'll top that
with some of these really delicate, super pretty,
a different variety of pea tendril,
mixed in with some fennel fronds.
(audience cheering and applauding)