Scallop Risotto

Risotto always takes a bit of effort to make, but this dish is well worth the work in the end. I highly recommend getting all your ingredients ready ahead of time on this one as risotto takes a lot of attention for about 30 minutes of cook time. Once you’ve made it a few times and have your timing down, you can juggle a few tasks at once to speed up the process.

Ingredients :

1/2 cup butternut squash (cut into small cubes)

1 medium sized purple carrot (scrub clean, don’t use a peeler, and also cut into similar sized cubes)

1 small red garnet (or similar) sweet potato (cut into small cubes again)

6 jumbo sea scallops

6 tablespoons grapeseed oil (can use olive or other oil as you prefer) , divided into 2 tbsp each

1/2 cup minced white onion

3/4 cup arborio rice (rinsed)

30 oz chicken broth (low sodium is best)

3 tbsp white wine (I use sauvignon blanc)

2 tbsp finely chopped parsley

3 oz shaved parmesan cheese (plus more for garnish)

scallop seasoning (explained later)

salt to taste

Directions :

Remove your scallops from the fridge about 30 minutes before cooking. Rinse, clean and dry your scallops before seasoning. I use my cajun seasoning on mine, but feel free to use any you like (salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme all work well). Toss the butternut squash, purple carrot and sweet potato cubes in a bowl with 2 tbsp of oil. Lightly salt them and then spread out in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 400* for 20 minutes, remove from oven and set aside when done. Make sure chicken broth is at least at room temperature, simmer for a few minutes if necessary. In a large skillet, heat 2 tbsp of oil on medium heat. Add onion and cook for 2 mnutes, stirring a few times. Sprinkle the arborio rice over the sautéed onion, stir and cook for another minute. Drizzle the wine over the pan, stir and cook for 2 more minutes. Now it’s time to add the chicken broth over the next 20 minutes. Add about 30% of the broth initially and then about 10% every 3 minutes. You should always see some standing broth so that the rice never dries out. Makes sure the dish stays below boiling the whole time by either adding more broth, stirring or lowering the temperature. Stir the risotto often, about every 30 seconds. When you have added all the broth and it has been absorbed, heat up another pan on med/high heat for the scallops. Add the roasted vegetables, parsley , 1-2 teaspoons of salt and parmessan to the rice skillet. Stir it all together and remove from the heat. Once the other pan is hot, add the remaining 2 tbsp of oil. Give the oil about 30 seconds to heat up and then add your scallops. Cook the scallops for 2.5 - 3 minutes per side. Transfer risotto to serving dish, place the scallops on top, garnish with additional shaved parmessan and serve.