Shrimp Scampi Risotto

Don't worry, we'll get to the healthy food next week when we're resolving to be perfect humans for the first week of 2015.  

Right?  

I was going to try and make some new apps for the fab NYE party that you're no doubt planning (I'm planning one that will involve an ENGAGEMENT SURPRISE, shh), but I have kind of a ton of appetizers on this site and zero inspiration to make any new snacks, and I DO really like things that taste like shrimp scampi and I figure you still have to eat dinner on holiday weeks so...here we go.  Right?  

Speaking of - do you eat dinner on holiday weeks?  We've been subsisting on leftovers and restaurants, which means that I feel like I've gained 9,837 pounds even though I haven't.  That would be a lot.  We did have dinner at my parents' last night and my dad made veg chili and I made this chicken chili, and it was nice to just eat food that we'd prepared, probably for the first time in over a week with all the craziness.  

So let's make dinner, ok?  

 This is a really standard risotto, but we top it with lemon shrimp and lemony toasty buttery parsley.....y...bread crumbs, and it works GREAT as a quick dinner or something for a fancier evening.  Like New Years?  Think about it.  

You need butter, which we use in two parts for the risotto and for the bread crumb topping.  Then we have garlic, arborio rice, white wine, stock, a lemon, shrimp, bread crumbs, and parsley.  Not a terribly involved list, when you get right down to it.  

Now, there are three sections here.  The risotto, the shrimp, and the breadcrumbs.  I start the risotto, and then a separate pan make the crumb topping THEN the shrimp (in the same second skillet, one after the other), but you can order the cooking however you want.  I do these kind of all at the same time, but I'm showing you them separately to not be terribly confusing.  

Make sense?  Likely not.  Let's get to the risotto!  I forwent onion for this one because....I felt like it.  So you just start with butter + garlic, and melt it in a skillet until the garlic is just fragrant but not brown.  

Then, add the rice!  Stir it all together for about a minute to toast the rice slightly.  

Then, dump in the wine.  

And now, you know the drill with risotto!  You stir until the wine goes away, then you add stock a cup or so at a time, stirring a lot, and then when it goes away you add more.  

The stock adding/stirring maneuver goes on for 20-30 minutes.  

When the rice is done, add the last pat of butter, salt and pepper to your taste, then risotto is ready!  

Now, about halfway through the rice cooking process I get to work on the breadcrumb topping in a separate pan.  For the breadcrumbs, add olive oil or butter to a skillet with the panko over medium-high heat.  

Zest the lemon and chop the parsley, too.  

Stir the breadcrumbs for just a few minutes until they absorb whatever fat you're using and start to toast.  

Put them on a plate with the zest + parsley, and mix!  

Breadcrumb topping.  Boom.  

Now, I use the same skillet for the shrimp once the breadcrumbs are done.  I add a little more butter with the shrimp, and a sprinkle of salt.  

These are pink shrimp from Trader Joe's, and even though they're raw they start out opaque, so don't worry - they're not overcooking!  

Cook the shrimp for 3 minutes or so until they're done, then squeeze in the juice of half the lemon that you zested for the topping.  Cut the other half into wedges for serving!  

Now, we just build.  Risotto, shrimp, breadcrumbs, lemon wedge.  

Boom.  

Great flavor that really feels like scampi, but in the form of a whole meal minus pesky vegetables.  

And vegetables aren't important until January 1.  Or maybe 2 depending on the nature of your hangover.  

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