Prawn and Rocket Risotto

I don’t believe in fate or destiny or anything. That would be silly. But when James emailed yesterday to say that he fancied prawn risotto for supper at exactly the moment I was idly wondering whether rocket would work as well as peas in that particular dish... well, it was as if the universe was telling us something. No, really man, it was spooky. Destiny had decided our dinner.

I love making risotto. Making a ‘staple’ like rice (even if it is a fancy kind of rice) into something luxurious feels a bit magical. Plus it allows me to use my risotto spoon, a gift from James’ brother Richard. A wooden spoon with a hole in it isn’t a kitchen essential by any means, but it’s strangely satisfying to use. Prawn and pea (with some finely chopped fresh mint and a squeeze of lemon juice) is a perennial favourite, but I had an inkling that it might be nice to try it with the slightly more complex flavours of rocket.

Anyway. I did the usual butter-oil-onion-garlic-rice-wine-stock thing and then, right at the end, after adding a handful of parmesan, I turned off the heat and stirred in the prawns and the best part of a bag or rocket. I left them just long enough for the prawns to heat up and the rocket to wilt.
Risotto’s so rich I always think it needs something fresh alongside. Usually I do a green salad or a tomato one, but this time I’d roasted some cherry tomatoes with (salt, pepper, a pinch of sugar, a tiny bit of olive oil and) chilli flakes to give them a bit of a kick.

I felt a bit fancy, so dished up in pretentious restaurant style, making a little heap of rice for each plate with tomatoes nestling round its base and garnishing with the leftover rocket leaves and an extra sprinkling of parmesan. Ta da. Or not. My camera has no batteries so you will just have to imagine the dish’s splendour for yourselves.


UPDATE: It's come to my attention that a lot of people stumble across this blog doing Google searches for why risotto spoons have a hole in them. To those people: it's really just to make the risotto easier to stir as it thickens. Gentle stirring is supposed to keep it creamy rather than starchy. Hope that helps. xx