The last couple of years, I have been buying the annual calendar & wine pack from Wine Selectors that contains a calendar with a recipe and a matching wine for each month. Here is the January 2020 recipe from the Wine Selectors Calendar.
The wine is Chrismont La Zone Pino Grigio 2018 in Victoria’s King Valley.
Prep time 35 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Serves 4
Ingredients:
Bisque:
40g butter
40 ml EVO
1 brown onion, finely sliced
2 carrots, finely diced
100g celery, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, peeled & chopped
2 morten bay bugs, in shell
200g green prawns in shell
1 cup dry white wine
1 liter fish stock
200g tomato paste
3 sprigs fresh thyme
4 bay leaves
500g butter
100g double thick cream
Risotto:
4 king prawns, butterflied
2 Morten Bay Bug Tails, halved
80ml EVO
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 Tbs chopped basil leaves
2 Tbs chopped flat leaf parsley leaves
1 liter fish or vegetable stock
1 small brown onion, finely diced
320g arborio rice
200ml white wine
12 shrimp, peeled
70g butter
100g parmesan, finely grated
Bisque Method:
Heat butter and oil in a large, heavy based saucepan over a medium heat. Add onion, carrot and celery and cook 7 minutes until soft. Add garlic, bug tail pieces and prawns, stir to combine. Add white wine and cook, stirring for 5 minutes or until the liquid has absorbed.
Add stock, tomato paste, thyme and bay leaves. Stir. Cook over a low heat for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally or until liquid has reduced by half. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Remove lobster and prawns. Blend in batches until smooth. Pass through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan and add butter and cream. Season and keep warm until the risotto is ready.
Place the king prawns in a bowl with the bug tails, 20ml EVO, garlic and herbs. Toss to coat and set in the fridge until needed.
For the risotto: put the stock in a saucepan over low heat.
Heat 20 ml EVO in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add onions and cook for 2 minutes until soft. Add rice and stir to coat the grains. Add wine and cook for 2-3 minutes until absorbed. Add stock a ladleful at a time. allowing it to be absorbed before adding the next.Continue stir constantly for about 20 minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is cooked to a firm bite.
Add shrimp and remaining seafood to the pan and gently incorporate in the rice. Remove from the heat, Add the butter and parmesan and gently stir through.
In a second pan, heat the remaining olive oil. Add marinated king prawns and bug tails and cook until almost done. Remove from the heat.
To serve: spoon risotto into plates and ladle over bisque. Top each with a marinated king prawn and half bug tail and garnish with fresh parsley.
