Special Occassion Scallops and Risotto

Happy Holidays! Its that crazy time of year! We celebrated my son’s 14th birthday last night and in sticking with tradition- he requested his special “homemade” meal. He asked for scallops and risotto (that cheesy rice he calls it hehe) The funny thing is that I assumed seafood scallops and he meant the potatoes! After last nights’ creation I think I have him sold on the seafood version.

There is something special about cooking a slow warm meal on rainy cold day. My vision for this recipe is that it’s something you can can pull out on a weekend or a staycation weekday. Pour a glass of wine (or some sparkling water), turn on some light music, and just groove in the kitchen. The risotto is high maintenance so its nice to have a helper to assist. I paired the scallops and risotto with green beans but choose any side you like. Ok Let’s get to the recipe. (by the way- the quantities are enough for 4 hungry adults. we had a small lunch portion for leftovers- which Chase (my son) has already earmarked.

Ingredients:

2 cups arborio rice

7-8 cups of organic chicken bone broth (sub vegetable if you prefer)

1/2 cup white wine

1 white onion or 2 medium sized shallots- diced

4 cloves of garlic-minced

4 tablespoons butter

olive oil- just had a bottle ready to go (lol)

18-22 scallops

1 bunch fresh parsley

1 cup parmesan

1 lemon

salt and pepper to taste

You will need the following cookware/kitchen tools:

1 cast iron skillet

1 good quality ceramic or nonstick saucepan (I have a Le Creuset and its amazing)

1 large saucepan to heat the stock (adding warm stock to the risotto is a hack)

Zester

Cutting board

Good knife

Ladle

For the risotto

Heat the chicken bone broth in a pot. Have a ladle ready to go. Next, in your ceramic pot, add 2 tablespoons of butter, a generous swirl of olive oil and cook the onion and garlic until softened (do not let it burn). Add the 2 cups of rice and begin stirring- just gently toasting it. Maybe 30 seconds. Add the white wine and simmer for an additional minute. Now you will begin adding the warm stock. And you will do this for the next 30-40 minutes! One ladle at a time- stirring it into the rice until the liquid is absorbed. It absorbs quickly so you want to be careful to tend to it- you don’t want this to burn. (Honestly- a great time to take a break from your phone and just be present) When the stock has been absorbed and rice is cooked, you will finish it with the parmesan cheese, the zest of half the lemon and juice from half the lemon. Add a generous amount of salt and pepper. Finish with some minced parsley.

For the scallops

These take 5 minutes (literally) so save this step until the rice is done. Have your helper do the finishing pieces to the risotto and you can do the scallops. Ok- so first- make sure the scallops are dry. I laid them out on a paper towel and blotted them dry. I added salt, pepper and some of the minced parsley to once side. To a hot cast iron skillet I did that butter/olive oil combo that I did when I started the risotto. Then you will place the scallops seasoned side down. While those sear for 2 minutes- season the other side. Then flip- cook another two minutes and you are done! Add a little more parsley to them and a squeeze of lemon juice.

To plate- I add a nice generous spoonful of risotto to a plate- and then 3-4 scallops on top of there. Its rich with flavor but honestly doesn’t sit heavy. I hope you love this recipe! Shoot me an email at beth@kitchenshift.com or tag my on Instagram @kitchenshift if you make it!