Goat Cheese Risotto with Spinach & Shrimp

I love risotto but it takes more time to prepare than I usually have (the patience for…) when I’m hungry and it’s time to cook supper. This recipe from MyRecipes.com caught my attention in a big way since I am a huge fan of goat cheese and spinach, plus risotto in general, so I pulled on my big girl pants and prepared this delicious dish for the hubby a few nights ago!

It is important to have all of your ingredients measured, prepped, and ready to go when you start on a risotto recipe. Once you start cooking the rice, you will be stirring until it is finished cooking – at least 20 minutes.

Start by cooking your shelled, deveined shrimp in olive oil until pink on both sides, then set them aside. They will go into the risotto at the very end.

Next step is to sauté your onions for several minutes until translucent, add your garlic and cook for just a minute (be careful that it doesn’t burn), then then add the rice to the onion mixture and cook for another minute before you begin adding your liquids.

Now you start adding your liquids and begin stirring. This recipe calls for white wine and chicken broth. You add your wine first and stir/cook until it is almost all absorbed – it should leave a trail when you pull your stirrer through it. Then you begin adding your chicken broth, 1/2 cup at a time. Stir each 1/2 cup addition until it is absorbed like the wine, adding another 1/2 cup broth at a time until your broth is all used up. The cooking will go a bit faster if your broth is warm. Continue until you have used all of your broth and it is absorbed into the rice.

Risotto takes 3 1/2 – 4 times stock to the volume of rice. Your rice should triple in volume by the time it is finished absorbing the liquids you will add.

You add your goat cheese, spinach, and cooked shrimp to your finished risotto. The aroma in your kitchen will be delicious!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion (about 1 medium)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup uncooked Arborio rice
• 3/4 cup dry white wine
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 Tbsp frozen cilantro or 1/4 cup chopped fresh
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
• 3 ounces crumbled goat cheese

 

Directions:

Sauté your shrimp in 1 tbsp olive oil until pink on both sides, about 4 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Sauté onion in 1 tbsp olive oil in the same pan for about 5 minutes or until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Then add the rice to the pan, cook for another minute, stirring constantly.

Stir in the wine and cook until the liquid is nearly all absorbed, stirring constantly.