Shrimp Risotto

Risotto is probably one of the most delicious dishes ever to be invented. Historically, rice was introduced to the Mediterranean by Arabs, although in ancient Rome rice was used in small quantities for medical purposes. As far as its consumption in dishes, we known that rice was brought to Venice, at its time as La Serenissima (Venetian Republic). As a tangible proof of this we have a letter form Sept. 27, 1475 from Galeazzo Maria Sforza to the Duke of Ferrara where he mentions twelve sacks of rice. In fact on the dinner menu prepared for the Doge of Venice there was a dish called minestra di riso, which later evolved into risotto. There is also a legend that the dish we know as risotto came into existence when a stained glass artist named Valerius in 1574 purposefully tinted the rice dish with saffron he used in his color for stained glass. Even earlier than 15. century, there is a 14 c. recipe called rico in bona manera (rice cocked in almond milk and then topped with sugar). At the time of Venetian Republic, the Balkan belonged to Turks (Ottoman Empire), and Dalmatia to Venice (then known as Ragusa). I was born and raised in Dubrovnik, but also lived in Serbia, so I am closely familiar with both types of cuisine.
Today I cooked my own shrimp risotto. This is would you will need for this quick, simple and delicious recipe:

3 tbs olive oil

1 Onion finely chopped

1 Carrot finely chopped

1 Large Leak

1 garlic clove sliced

1 1/2 cups Arborio rice

12-16 large shrimps peeled

1/2 cup white wine dry

4-6 cups chicken stock 

salt, pepper, Italian flat leaf parsley.

For chicken stock: Some people like to use home-made stock, which is great. However, I dis not have any at home, and I really hate the smell of the store-bought chicken stock. I use Maggi chicken cubes and also Telma chicken stock cubes. So, I boil little over six cups of water and add one Telma chicken cube, two Maggi chicken cubes and two Maggi beef cubes. From this point on, I know I will not need any salt, because the cubes are already salty. 

 These are sold in international section in the supermarkets and usually   look like this (I am showing here vegetable cubes, but there are also chicken and beef flavors). 

Preheat the olive oil in the large skillet over medium high heat and add chopped onion and carrot. Cook for about 10 min until onion is translucent. Thoroughly washed leak chop and add to the onions and carrots. Cook for 3-5 minutes. Add shrimp and cook until they are red. 

Add rice and coat with shrimp and vegetables. Then add wine and cook for 3 min and add butter. Reduce heat to medium. As the butter melts start adding the liquid (i.e.stock), two ladles at a time. After each time wait until the rice absorbs the liquid and then add more. Add thinly sliced garlic. 

It will take about 20 min until the rice is nicely cooked. In the last five minutes of cooking the risotto, you will need to start tasting it in order too if it is cooked, salted etc. Towards the end add pepper and one tablespoon of roughly chopped parsley. 

Serve immediately! Enjoy!

Vegetable Stew

The vegetable stew is something I learned from my mom. This is a dish one makes in Serbia, Croatia, and Turkey, too. The prerequisite for this dish is fresh vegetables. The three main ingredients are onions, peppers and tomato. This time however, I am adding the eggplant and leak, which makes my stew even tastier.

Ingredients:

1 medium size onion finely chopped

2 cloves garlic chopped

1 leak chopped

1 medium-size eggplant cubed

4 sweet Italian (green) peppers chopped

3 ripe tomatos chopped (with seeds)

1/2 tsp. herbs de provence

2 basil leaves

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

1/4 cup olive oil

Wash and chop all the vegetables.

1. Preheat olive oil in a medium soup pot over  medium-high heat. Add onions, garlic and leak, hermes de provence. basil leafs and pepper flakes. When the spices are added right away, the flavors infuse better. Cook for about 5 min, until translucent.

2. Add eggplant and cook it for 10 min, until it     browns and softens. It must get the golden color, otherwise it will taste bitter. When cubed, eggplant will have tendency to stick to your pot. If needed, add some extra olive oil. It is often said that eggplant  absorbs oil fairly quickly. Stir once or twice, but let it brown.

3. Add peppers and stir it once, so it is well coated and infused with the already existing flavors.
Add 1/2 cup water and lower the heat to medium. Let it simmer. After you stirred it, you will see that the bottom of the pot is no longer browned from the eggplant. This gives it a wonderful flavor. Add more water until the peppers soften, but are not overcooked. Add salt and pepper and take the basil leaves out.

Now it is time for tomatoes. Tomatoes will release a lot of water, which means that once you added tomatoes, you don't need to keep adding water any longer. Continue to cook the stew for another 10 min. Turn the heat off. Taste it, and add salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to your liking. I end up adding more salt, but you be the judge of that.

Enjoy!

Alternative:
If you wish to give some protein to this dish, you may add an egg! This is very traditional way of making it in Serbia and Croatia. To 1 1/2 cups of the stew add one lightly beaten egg and cook until the egg is entirely incorporated into the stew (about 3-5 min.)

You may also choose to serve the stew over rice.


Enjoy!