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    Tue - Fri: 9am to 2pm
    Sat: 8am to 1pm
    Wholesale area is open 6 days a week

Prawn & Fennel Risotto Recipe

Nicky Riemer, Bellota

Serves 4

Everyone loves to “chuck a shrimp on the barbie” but do they realise a great prawn stock makes a prawn risotto just heavenly. Especially in September with beautiful spring weather.

Sweet prawn flesh with fennel and the rustic flavour of the bouillibaise-style stock is one of my favourite ways to eat prawns.

Method

  • Shell the prawns, keep all the shells for the stock, devein the prawns and roughly chop all the flesh into little pieces about the size of a dice.
  • Preheat oven to 200C.
  • Toss all the prawn shells with the shallots, garlic, leek, tomatoes and some olive oil to just coat, then put in a tray and roast in the oven for 20 minutes until the shells are bright red and the vegetables are roasted.
  • Put all the roasted prawn shells and vegetables in a large pot with the water, wine, saffron, bay leaves, basil and the stalks of the parsley (keep the leaves for the garnish), bring to the boil, simmer for 40 minutes then strain. This is your stock to cook the risotto in.
  • To cook the risotto, use a heavy-based saucepan and put on high heat, add a generous tablespoon of olive oil, add the chopped fennel and sauté for a minute or so, add the rice and stir on high heat for a further minute. Start to add ladles of warm prawn stock to the rice and fennel mix, turn down the heat to medium and continue to stir (generally 500 gm of raw rice will need about 2 litres of stock to make a nice wet risotto and should take about 16 minutes of cooking time).
  • After about 8 minutes of cooking, and with about half of your stock added, it is time to add the chopped prawns, continue to stir and add stock, when the rice looks almost clear, but still is al dente – and you have added about 2 litres of stock the risotto is done – it is time to finish the risotto with the mascarpone, grated parmesan and the juice of the lemons. And check if salt is needed to your taste.
  • Spoon the risotto into a shallow bowl, garnish with chopped parsley and a generous ‘slurp’ of extra virgin olive oil.

About Chef

Nicky Riemer’s career began over 20 years ago and since then she has established herself as one of Australia’s leading chefs. She has headed up many great kitchens including Richmond Hill Café & Larder, Mecca Bah and The Melbourne Wine Room, and in Hong Kong as the executive chef of H One kitchen in the IFC tower. Now at Bellota in South Melbourne, Nicky continues to share her skill and flair for traditional European cooking.

From 2011 to 2017, Nicky was the co-owner and head chef of Union Dining in Richmond that offered provincial European cuisine. At Bellota, she has continued to share her love of this style of food and classic cooking techniques.

“I try to create unique menus that impress and stand out from the crowd, but more importantly, I want my menus to offer a sense of provenance and bring back flavours that often get lost in modern cooking techniques.”

At Bellota, “I get to continue my love affair with stunning Victorian ingredients, cooking classic dishes that suit the amazing wine on offer at the Prince Wine Store.”

Bellota
181 Bank St, South Melbourne VIC 3205
www.bellota.com.au

Why this recipe?

Because everyone loves to “chuck a shrimp on the barbie” but do they realise a great prawn stock makes a prawn risotto just heavenly. Especially in September with beautiful spring weather. Sweet prawn flesh with fennel and the rustic flavour of the bouillibaise-style stock is one of my favourite ways to eat prawns.

OceanMade really care where their fish and shellfish come from, they know their ingredients inside-out and constantly go the extra mile to keep me informed on what is coming from our oceans!”