2Tbspgrass-fed butter or gheedivided (replace with olive oil for dairy free option)
1shallotdiced
1medium yellow oniondiced
2large cloves garlicminced
2stalks celerydiced
1 1/4cup250g Carnaroli rice, dry/unrinsed
1cupdry white wineroom temperature
1tspsea salt
3oz85g parmesan cheese, finely grated
1/2tspfresh lemon juice
parsley for garnish
Instructions
Dry the crawfish tails with paper towels and allow them to come to room temperature while you make the risotto base.
Warm the chicken stock in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Warming to a steam, but not a simmer.
In a large heavy-bottomed pot, add the olive oil and 1 Tbsp butter or ghee and heat over medium heat.
Add the shallot, onion, garlic, and celery. Cook for 10 minutes or until the vegetables are softened, stirring occasionally. You don't want to brown the vegetables here, so if you start to get any browning, turn down the heat a bit.
After the vegetables have softened, add the rice to the pot and stir well until the rice is covered in the oils. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook the rice for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. The rice should be toasting a bit during this phase.
Next, add the wine and continue to stir.
Once the wine has absorbed into the rice (~2 mins), begin ladling the stock into the risotto pot. **Add one ladle of stock at a time**
Add one ladle, decrease the heat to a simmer, and stir constantly until the liquid is almost all absorbed. You want to stir a lot to work the starch out of the rice. This is what gives the risotto it's creaminess. Just keep stirring, just keep stirring!
Once almost all of the liquid is absorbed, ladle in a second ladle of stock. Stir, stir, stir.
Repeat this process of ladling in stock and stirring until the rice is soft but still has a little bite to it. This phase will take about 15 minutes. You may not use all of the stock. I usually have a little leftover. If you run out of stock, you can use water to cook the remainder of the rice.
Once the rice is cooked, taste the risotto and add more salt if desired.
Remove the risotto from the heat and add 1 Tbsp butter or ghee, crawfish, parmesan, and lemon juice. Stir to combine. If it looks a little too thick, add in a little more stock until you get a creamy, smooth texture.
Cover the risotto with a lid and let it sit for 2 minutes.