Gluten-free and dairy-free pesto risotto with shrimp and asparagus

The Story

I’ve been living away from home for many years now. I moved away for college, and then promptly transferred my entire life over to Barcelona to go to culinary school. Since I graduated culinary school, I make a point of going back to New York to see my family at least once a year over the holidays. Besides the heaps of desserts like Apple crumble or my mom’s favorite coconut custard pie, I always make at least one risotto.

I knew how to make it before I went to culinary school at Hofmann, but it was during my two and a half years working in their Michelin-starred restaurant that I really perfected it. They had a different rendition on every menu that would change every 3 or 4 months to correspond with whatever was best that season. Of course, there were some tricks I learned for how to streamline making it in a restaurant setting (like parcooking the risotto until halfway done and then rapidly cooling it down on baking trays…a trick I use if I want to make risotto for a dinner party), but the foundation is pretty standard.

Start with a high-quality stock. If you don’t make yours from scratch, at least use a brand that you know is good and even pump up the flavor with something like Better Than Boullion. In this case, I use a dark brown chicken stock, meaning I roast the meat and bones before adding it to the broth. If you prefer, you can also make a light chicken stock.

Next is to make a flavorful sofrito which will serve as the base of the rice dish and should echo whatever flavors you’ll be adding with garnishes. In this case, I keep it simple with onions and garlic.

Then, ensure you cook the rice nicely. First toasting it in olive oil with your sofrito, and then slowly adding liquid until it’s almost cooked. By the way, that whole you have to stir the entire time you make risotto is a complete myth. I’ll explain during the recipe, but you don’t have to babysit it as much as people say. And lastly, finish with a good mantecare. This entails turning the heat off and adding cubes of cold butter and tons of parmesan cheese.

You may be asking yourself, but isn’t this supposed to be dairy-free? Well, you’re right. This is my dairy-free version of a mantecare that leaves you with the same creaminess and the same richness without any of the dairy. I’ll give you a hint…it involves adding way more nuts than you would ever add to a pesto!

Difficulty: 5 on a scale of 1-5

Active time to prepare: 1 hour and 45 minutes

Total time to prepare: 3 hours and 45 minutes (including simmer time for the lobster stock)

Serves: 8 - 10

The Ingredients

For the dark chicken stock:

4 pounds/1800 g chicken wings

1/4 cup/54 g light-colored oil (sunflower, vegetable, etc.)

2 medium onions diced

4 medium carrots peeled and diced

4 stalks of celery diced

5 leeks roughly chopped and washed

3 large cloves of garlic smashed with the skins removed

5 plum or roma tomatoes roughly chopped

3 tablespoons/42 g tomato paste

1/2 cup/118.5 g brandy

1 bay leaf

Cold water

For the sofrito:

1/4 cup/54 g olive oil

2 large white onions minced

10 cloves garlic minced

For the pesto

3 Tbsp./40 g olive oil

3 garlic cloves smashed and peeled

Zest and juice of one half of a lemon

1 Tbsp./11 g nutritional yeast (this is optional, but adds a nice depth to the pesto, mimicking parmesan cheese)

1/3 cup toasted pine nuts

Water

1.5 ounces/43 g basil

For the shrimp:

*NOTE: this is similar to my Gambas al ajillo, but with less garlic and olive oil

1.5 pounds/600 g shrimp, cleaned and deveined

5 large garlic cloves smashed

Zest of one half of a lemon

1/4 cup/54 g good quality olive oil

Kosher salt

A handful of chopped parsley (optional)

For the pesto risotto:

Sofrito

2 Tbsp./27 g olive oil (optional if the sofrito absorbed a lot of the oil during cooking)

1.5 cups/330 g arborio rice (you can also use carnaroli, bomba, or even a short grain Japanese rice)

1 cup/250 g white wine

Dark chicken stock

Pesto mixture

1 bunch asparagus, cut into 1/4”/.65 cm pieces, blanched, and briefly sautéed

The Recipe

For the dark chicken stock:

1. Preheat the oven to 232° C/450° F.

2. Place the chicken wings on a sheet tray and roast in the oven until golden brown (25 minutes approx.) flipping them over mid-way through.

3. Heat a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Add the vegetable oil and heat.

4. Add the diced onion and carrot. Cook until softened (8 - 10 minutes approx.).

5. Add the celery, leeks, and smashed garlic cloves, and continue to cook until the edges of the vegetables start to brown slightly (5 minutes approx.).

6. Add the tomatoes and cook until most of their water has evaporated (4 - 5 minutes approx.).

7. Add the tomato paste, and stir it thoroughly to combine with the vegetables. Cook until it turns a dark red (3 - 4 minutes approx.).

8. Deglaze with the brandy, scraping up any brown bits that have stuck to the bottom of the pan. Cook the mixture until it no longer smells like alcohol (3 - 5 minutes approx.).

9. Add the bay leaf, the browned lobster shells and heads, and the browned chicken wings. Stir to combine.

10. Fill the pot with just enough cold water to submerge all the chicken wings and vegetables.

11. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Once it starts to boil, skim off any excess fat that rises to the top as well as any impurities (they’ll look like beige thick bubbles).

12. Lower the heat to a simmer. Cook for 4 - 6 hours with the pot semi-covered.

13. Strain the stock, and let cool in a container without covering it at room temperature. Once it has cooled down, cover it and store it in the refrigerator.

For the sofrito:

1. Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the olive oil and heat.

2. Add the minced onions and season with salt and pepper. Cook until very soft (12 - 15 minutes approx.).

3. Add the minced garlic and continue to cook until the onions and garlic take on a light caramel color (15 minutes approx.).

4. Set aside.

For the pesto:

1. Add the 3 Tbsp./40 g olive oil to a small sauce pot. Cook for 3 minutes until softened and fragrant. Set aside to cool slightly.

2. In a blender, add the cooled garlic, the zest and juice of one half of a lemon, the nutritional yeast (optional), the toasted pine nuts, and 2 Tbsp./15 g water.

3. Blend until very smooth.

4. Add the basil and pulse until just coming together.

5. Stream in the 3 Tbsp/40 g olive oil you used to cook the garlic.

   *NOTE: The mixture should be thick and creamy. If while you are adding the olive oil, it looks like it could start to get runny, don’t use all of the oil.

6. Set aside.

For the shrimp:

1. In a large bowl, add the shrimp, smashed garlic cloves, lemon zest, and olive oil.

2. Mix thoroughly. Set aside to marinade while you make the risotto.

3. Ideally, when the risotto is almost done cooking, in a large, heavy bottom skillet, heat the olive oil over high.

4. Add the shrimp in a single layer. Season aggressively with salt.

   *NOTE: if you can’t fit the shrimp in one layer, you’ll have to do this in two batches. In this case, use half of the oil and garlic for each batch.

5. Cook until they start to turn pink (1 minute approx.). Turn them over, season with salt, and cook for another 1 - 2 minutes until just barely cooked through.

   *NOTE: the shrimp will continue to cook even after you serve them, so air on the side of slightly undercooked to avoid getting rubbery shrimp.

6. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

7. Set aside.

For the pesto risotto:

1. In a pot, place your dark chicken broth set over low heat.

2. In a large soup pot, add your sofrito and heat over medium heat. If it looks dry, add 2 Tbsp./27 g olive oil.

3. Add the rice, season with salt, stir to coat in the oil, and cook until the grains look lightly toasted (6 - 8 minutes approx.).

4. Add the white wine. Stir to incorporate and let the risotto cook. If the bubbles are huge and fast, lower the heat. The mixture should be at a slight simmer.

5. Once the wine has been absorbed, stir vigorously. (3 - 4 minutes approx.).

6. Add two small ladles full of stock to the rice. Stir to incorporate and let the risotto cook over a slight simmer until it has been 90% absorbed.

7. Stir vigorously to ensure no grains are sticking to the bottom.

8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 until the grains are 90% cooked.

9. Turn off the heat and add the pesto mixture. While shaking the pan aggressively, stir the whole mixture until the pesto is fully incorporated and starts to lighten in color. It should be very creamy.

10. Check for seasoning.

11. Add sautéed asparagus and stir to warm through.

12. Serve in bowls topped with shrimp.

DO AHEAD: You can make the sofrito one day in advance.

LEFTOVERS: Any leftover lobster stock will stay good in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days and in the freezer for 6 months. Leftover risotto will remain fresh in the refrigerator for 4 days and in the freezer for 1 month (although I’m not a huge fan of freezing risotto).