One Pot Risotto with Shrimp and Asparagus is a one pot, easy but oh so tasty dinner for those hectic weeknights, or even date night! Your shrimp, risotto and asparagus, all cooked together in the same pot. Minimal clean up, maximum flavor!
Another weeknight/ one-pot/ minimal effort/ more time for wine winner for you guys – One – Pot Risotto with Shrimp and Asparagus: that’s your veg, your starch and your protein, all in one glorious pot, with minimal ingredients, minimal clean up and MAXIMUM flavor and easiness. Is flavor > easiness? Or vice versa? I like them both. A lot. So for now we’ll say they’re equal.
Back in the day, I realized that you can make the most perfect, soft and delicious risotto IN THE OVEN when I made this Oven-Baked Butternut Squash Risotto (EPIC fall dish btw). And then with the leftovers, you get to make THESE Butternut Squash Arancini. I mean, the only reason to make risotto in the first place is to then have leftovers to fry into arancini oblivion. But this oven-baked version means no stirring – no adding of stock as it cooks – no slaving over the stove. There’s nothing worse than your nice cold glass of white wine getting all those gross sweat bubbles on it from all that steam comin’ off of the stove top. Let alone your forehead! EWW!
A few months ago it came to me that this methodology of making risotto in the oven should be brought into every day life, not just for butternut squash risotto on a special fall occasion. And I remembered how quickly and easily shrimp cooks up from this One-Pot Lemony Shrimp Orzo with Broccoli. Another gem from the one-pot archives. And that my friends is how this beauty was born. I can’t say enough about it. It’s one of those meals that you taste and think “God, this must have taken forever”. But it DIDN’T. And no one but you has to know! It’s a dream for those crazy hectic weeknights when you’re looking for something a little more diverse than out-of-the-box tacos (which we have like, at least once a week), but you don’t want to spend forever. It’s also a dream for a dinner party, or special dinner occasion, because it’s fancy enough to wow your guests, but still be able to socialize (which translates to drink wine) while they’re there instead of slaving over dat’ stove! Is there anything more perfect in this world than that first bite of soft, pillowy risotto? It’s ok I”ll answer that for you. THERE ISN’T.
Enjoy!
One Pot Risotto with Shrimp and Asparagus
2018-06-13 12:26:30
Serves 2
Risotto, shrimp and asparagus, all cooked in one pot! Easy enough for those crazy weeknights, but fancy enough for date night!
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup arborio rice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1 lb. asparagus
- 1 cup freshly shredded parmesan cheese
- juice of 1 large lemon (2 tablespoons)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large, heavy bottomed pot (like a dutch oven if you have one), melt your 3 tablespoons of butter over medium heat on your stovetop. Add the onion to the melted butter and cook for 3-5 minutes, until the onion starts to become translucent. Add your minced garlic and cook for about 30 seconds until garlic just starts to become fragrant.
- Add your arborio rice to the butter/onion mixture, mixing to coat the rice in the mixture. Then add your chicken stock, seasoning the mixture with salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil over the stovetop.
- Cover the mixture and then place it in the preheated oven. Cook the risotto for 18 minutes. After 18 minutes, remove the dutch oven from the stove, uncover, and add your asparagus. Try to lay them out in a single layer if possible, if not, a layer of two is fine (or you could chop them into small pieces and lay them out that way). Return to the oven for another 6 minutes.*
- After the asparagus have been cooking for 6 minutes, add your peeled and deveined shrimp in a single layer on top of the asparagus and risotto, and cook for an additional 6-8 minutes until the shrimp turn pink.
- Remove from the oven and stir in your parmesan cheese and lemon juice. Serve hot!
Notes
- If you like your asparagus a little more "crunchy" and less cooked through, let the risotto cook for 20-22 minutes before adding your asparagus. Then, only cook the asparagus for 2-4 minutes before adding the shrimp.
- Technically this serves 2, however it's quite a "generous" portion of risotto for two people. Save the leftovers and make arancini the next day!
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