Crayfish risotto Recipe

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(14 ratings)

Seafood and lemon are a match made in heaven in this Italian-inspired comforting crayfish risotto dish

Crayfish Risotto with lemon
(Image credit: Future)
Serves4
Preparation Time20 mins
Cooking Time25 mins
Total Time45 mins
Nutrition Per PortionRDA
Calories615 Kcal31%
Saturated Fat10.5 g53%
Fat26 g37%
Carbohydrates68 g26%
Samuel Goldsmith
By Samuel Goldsmith
published

This creamy crayfish risotto is a deliciously indulgent dinner recipe, full of flavor.

A staple of Northern Italy, risotto has spread across the globe and become a favourite dish for millions. 

For our crayfish risotto we recommend using Signal Crayfish. They're not native to the UK, but were brought over in the 1970's and have since wreaked havoc on their British counterpart, and the riverbeds. By using them for culinary purposes you can help bring them down to a more manageable level. They're also delicious, thankfully!

Method

  1. In a large frying pan or saucepan, melt the 15g butter and 2tbsp olive oil and gently sweat the onions and celery without colouring. Once they have softened, raise the heat and add the rice. Begin to fry, stirring constantly and after 1min add the white wine and continue to stir.
  2. Once the wine has cooked into the rice add the 1st ladle of hot stock and season with a pinch of salt. Turn the heat down slightly, let the rice absorb the stock and continue to add the stock a ladleful at a time, always stirring. Continue this for around 15 mins. Check the rice and if it’s still undercooked, add more stock and continue cooking and stirring.
  3. Once the rice is cooked, stir in the crayfish. Remove from the heat straight away and add the rest of the butter and the extra virgin olive oil, zest the lemon into the risotto and squeeze the juice of half the lemon into the risotto. Mix this all in well and leave to stand for 2 mins, add the parsley and serve.

Ingredients

  • 4tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 15g butter, plus 50g butter, diced
  • 320g arborio rice
  • 1 small onion, peeled and finely diced
  • 2 sticks celery, finely chopped
  • 250ml white wine
  • 1ltr hot vegetable stock
  • 1 lemon
  • 200g crayfish, cooked
  • handful of parsley

How to make crayfish risotto more indulgent

Add a generous spoon of mascarpone to your crayfish risotto if you are feeling extravagant—this will make the dish creamier and elevate the taste if you need something that truly feels restaurant-quality.

Samuel Goldsmith
Samuel Goldsmith

Samuel has a BSc in Food from the University of Birmingham and nearly 16 years after he began his professional food career, his work has featured in national and international publications including Waitrose Food, Australian Delicious, and the LAD Bible Group. 


He was also a nutritional consultant for BBC’s Eat Well for Less. Throughout his career he has specialised in recipe writing and has produced many recipes for woman&home. Samuel is also Co-Vice Chair of the Guild of Food Writers and a Trustee of 91 Ways CIC. 

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