Pesto Risotto With Sundried Tomatoes and Sautéed Garlic Shrimp

Finally got to go to The Calori Kitchen (Italian) in DTLA last Friday night. Madeline and Halley split two dishes, one of which was a three mushroom risotto that was delish. I used to make risotto on a regular basis but haven't in a while. Started looking through my various recipes but couldn't get too excited. The interwebz saved the day as I stumbled across a recipe for Pesto Risotto with Sundried Tomatoes.

I decided to make fresh pesto utilizing a mortar and pestle, or in this case, a molcajete. Sure, a blender is quick and adequate. But hand grinding/crushing all of the ingredients in a simple classics basil pesto brings out the flavors like you cannot believe. So fresh, so much flavor.

The finished product has a slightly rougher texture than store bought or blender made pesto, but the aroma that wafts up from that molcajete is to die for.

Sautéed Garlic Shrimp to top things off sounds good, eh? Into a garlic, oil, butter, parsley & lemon juice marinade for a bit.

The final Mise en place for the risotto in order of addition: Onion, arborio rice, wine & salt, Sundried tomatoes, pesto and parmigiana regiano (and chicken stock of course!)

Addition of final ingredients after 20-30 minutes of slowly adding and absorbing the stock: pesto, pepper & parmigiana.

The shrimp was tossed into a hot cast iron skillet and sautéed for a few minutes on each side.

Buon Appetito!