A creamy Italian one dish dinner made with arborio rice, asparagus and shrimp. The secret to perfectly cooked Shrimp and Asparagus Risotto is to take your time and use the best, freshest ingredients.
Risotto is like an artist’s palette. A basic mixture of rice and broth is the starting point, then you can add any ingredients you like. Shrimp and Asparagus Risotto includes protein and vegetables so it’s a complete meal in one pan. There are no special tricks or equipment necessary but this one is a winner, because it’s one of the most popular recipes on Old Cut Kitchen!
Jump to RecipeThe key to making perfect Risotto is to add hot liquid in small amounts. If you don’t heat the broth, you’ll reduce the temperature each time you add cool liquid, thus increasing the cooking time. There are lots of opinions about heating versus non heating and there is probably some science involved in the debate but really, it’s not that much trouble to warm your broth in a pot on the stove top or in the microwave, so why not?
Arborio is similar to regular rice only a bit shorter and thicker. It has a starchy exterior which, when mixed with the broth, helps give Risotto that signature creamy consistency. That’s why you don’t rinse it before cooking. And Arborio rice can absorb lots of liquid without getting mushy. A ratio of 4 cups liquid to 1 cup dry rice is a good standard to follow.
How to make Risotto
The first step is to toast the Arborio rice in a hot skillet with some sautéed shallot (or onion but I prefer the more gentle flavour of shallots in many dishes), garlic and a little bit of pancetta in olive oil. This is the flavour base for the dish and toasting the rice before adding liquid will start to heat the grain and absorb some of that flavour.
Pancetta is a salty cured salami. You could substitute bacon or even prosciutto. You don’t need much, it’s not meant to overpower the dish, you just want a flavour base. Because it’s so salty you might not even want to add any salt to this dish. As always, taste as you go.
Add some white wine. Don’t heat the wine, just the broth. Stir often until the wine is absorbed, then start adding the broth in small amounts, stirring often but not constantly, over a medium-low simmer, adding more after each amount is absorbed. For this particular recipe you really need to use reduced sodium broth or it will be too salty.
When most of the liquid has been added, start testing for doneness by tasting a few grains of the rice. Perfect Shrimp and Asparagus Risotto will have a very slight el dente texture. It will take about 30 minutes to get to this point. Reserve some liquid to add at the end.
When to add shrimp to risotto
Adding raw shrimp and asparagus at the very end ensures they don’t over cook. You can pre cook them and add them right before serving if you’re nervous about them being cooked through but remember, if shrimp are cooked they look like a “c” but if they form a circle, like an “o” they’re overcooked. And, asparagus can quickly get mushy so steaming them in the Risotto with the last addition of liquid should give you the best results. And colour.
Use any size shrimp you like but preferably not too small and not too large. Frozen are perfectly fine, just make sure they’re defrosted according to package directions. And please remove the tails. I know many shrimp recipes have the tails intact but do you really want to be picking your shrimp out of the bowl with your fingers and pulling off the tails? I don’t.
When you’re ready to add the shrimp, push the rice to one side of the pan, add the shrimp to the open area and move the pan so that side is over the heat. Turn the heat up slightly, just to give the shrimp a quick sear on one side. Maybe 30 seconds or so. Turn them over and sear on the other side. Then add the asparagus and the remainder of the broth, stir everything together, set the pan back to the centre of the burner, turn the heat back to medium-low and cover with a lid. After about 5 minutes test the asparagus with a fork. It should be fork tender but not mushy. The timing may differ if you have quite thin or thick stalks. Medium stalks cut into one or two inch pieces are best.
You can use cooked shrimp, just add them at the end and make sure they’re heated through before serving. But you’ll lose a bit of the shrimp flavour by not cooking them with the other ingredients.
Remove from the heat and stir in some freshly grated parmesan and parsley. Save some of both for garnish and top with fresh cracked black pepper if desired.
If you make Shrimp and Asparagus Risotto, consider leaving a comment or rating below. Here’s the recipe:
Shrimp and Asparagus Risotto
Ingredients
- ¼ cup shallots, minced or ¼ small onion
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup pancetta, finely cubed or bacon
- 1 cup Arborio rice do not rinse
- 1 cup white wine or broth
- 3½ cups reduced sodium chicken broth
- 340 gram uncooked, peeled, deveined shrimp or about 6-8 shrimp per person
- 2 cups fresh asparagus, cut into bite sized pieces about ½ pound
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese plus more for garnish
- ¼ cup fresh chopped parsley plus extra for garnish
- cracked black pepper if desired
Instructions
- In large skillet, heat olive oil to medium-low and sauté finely minced shallot and cubed Pancetta and continue to sauté until meat is browning. When pancetta is crispy and shallots are golden, add garlic and cook for about a minute.
- Add dry unrinsed Arborio rice and cook with other ingredients until rice is heated and well coated with fat, about 1 minute.
- Add white wine. Simmer and stir often until most of liquid is absorbed.
- Meanwhile, heat broth in pot or microwave. Add in ladles, simmering and stirring often between additions until absorbed. Save ½ cup broth for the end. Taste and season mixture if necessary with salt, although it may not need any.
- When rice is cooked with a slight el denté texture, move rice mixture to side of pan, increase heat to medium and add shrimp. Sauté, turning shrimp over after about 30 seconds to cook for approximately 1 minute.
- Add chopped asparagus pieces and mix everything together to combine. Add last ½ cup broth, cover and simmer on medium-low to complete cooking of shrimp and asparagus, about 5 minutes.
- Once asparagus is just fork tender, remove from heat, stir in Parmesan and fresh parsley.
- Garnish with additional Parmesan, fresh parsley and cracked black pepper if desired.
This dish was very delicious. I had never ate risotto before and I loved it. Just hope when I make it it will taste that good.
You should make some in Florida with fresh gulf shrimp. I’m definitely going to!
After searching for risotto recipes on Pinterest, I settled on this one and boy did it not disappoint! Easy to make, with uncomplicated, delicious ingredients. Highly recommend making this. It was creamy, and so flavorful. Thank you for the great recipe, we will be making again, and I’ll be perusing your site for more things to try!
Thank you so much! It is pretty tasty isn’t it?