Lobster Risotto… sounds superbly grand does it not?

“What did you have for dinner last night? I had a delicious fried rice!”

“Oh, you know, I had the usual. Nothing fancy…”

“C’mon, what did you have?”

“A lobster risotto, that’s all!”

And that’s precisely what we had. If you’ve been following the news recently, you would know that the price of lobster has decreased tremendously (although reading another article this week, it is said that China is once again buying our crayfish! So there goes affordable lobster!)

The only reason why we had this, was because our local Woolies (Woolworths), had half a cooked lobster left going for AUD$6!!!… So we thought, why not?

The recipe for this dish is super simple. Anyone can do it, and the dish is incredibly delicious (it is lobster after all, dah-ling!)

Ingredients:
1 cooked lobster tail (flesh removed)
Half a chorizo (thinly sliced)
1 cup of arborio rice
1 litre of prawn stock (we used raw shells [including the heads] from prawns, some aromats [onions,garlic])
1 tablespoon of olive oil
30g unsalted butter
1 onion (finely chopped)
200ml dry white wine
1 pinch of saffron (5-6 strands)

Method:
Remove the meat from the lobster tail (cut into bite size pieces, keeping the shells –> for the stock)

In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil on a medium to low heat. Add the prawn shells and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the lobster shell and cook for another 2 minutes. Add in the aromats and fry until fragrant. Once done, add in a about 1.5 litres of water (the stock will reduce) and let simmer for 20 minutes. Strain and keep aside (This is your prawn stock done!)

In a frypan, heat the butter and add in the saffron strands. Add onions and cook for 1-2 minutes until it softens. Add in the chorizo and fry until crisp.

Add the rice, making sure to coat the grains (Do this by stirring it constantly as to agitate the rice –> this produces the creamy texture of the risotto). Pour in the white wine and cook for another 2-3 minutes until the flavours have been absorbed.

Add a ladle of the prawn stock at a time, allowing the liquid to be absorbed before adding the next ladle (this will prevent your risotto from being gluggy and turn out like congee!

Do this continuously for about 20-25 minutes (until the rice is cooked)

Turn off the heat and stir through the lobster and some fresh herbs (if you have any). Season with some sea salt (we used the pink version) and cracked black pepper.

Serve hot!

We are still suffering from post Christmas dinner (very happy sufferers indeed!)

Hope the rest of you are still enjoying the holidays!!