These Brown Butter Scallops with Parmesan Risotto dish are so luscious, creamy, and totally satisfying! Perfect for a date night at home!
You Guys!!
Scallops… Risotto… and Cheeeeese! This is serious foodie heaven.
Ok, so I’m going to let you all in on a little secret… I tried making Risotto twice before this… and let me just say I was doing it all wrong! Yep. Norwegians were not brought up making Risotto… haha!
Recently my good friend Roberto (who grew up in Rome, Italy, which is like the capital of amazing food) taught me how to make a true Authentic Italian Risotto!
I met my good friend Roberto shortly after moving to Sarasota. I was so impressed by his love of food (OMG someone who loves food as much as me?!), that I coaxed him into starting a new food blog with me. We just launched a new food blog called Orgasmik Cooking that I really hope you guys will check out!!
So basically he comes up with all of the unique delicious recipes, and I do all of the photos and technical stuff on the website (I geek out).
Now don’t worry, I will still be fully running things here at Tastefulventure, creating new recipes for you, posting my travel tips, creating videos (pssst keep scrolling to see the latest video I made of this yummy recipe), etc. This is just a new endeavor for me and I truly hope you will all join me there as well on this new venture! 🙂
Anyhoo… let’s get back to making these Brown Butter Scallops with Parmesan Risotto!!
First off… Do Not Be Intimidated.
Don’t.
It’s really pretty easy to make.
Rule #1
- Have everything chopped, measured, and prepped!
My advise is to have everything chopped, measured and prepped before starting because you cannot leave the Risotto once it starts cooking. Like yeah.. no looking at InstaStories or Facebook while this is cooking… (ahem!)
Seriously though, there’s a whole lot of love that goes into making Risotto and you don’t want to mess it up by leaving your pot unstirred and having a burned dinner.
Rule #2
- Keep stirring!!!
For the love… keep stirring your rice as the broth cooks it and gets absorbed (see Rule #3).
Rule #3
- Slowly add HOT Vegetable Broth.. like 1/2 cup at a time every 5 minutes. This is no joke people. I think the first time I made this I was like what?! I’m not doing that, I’ll do my own thing and add all of the Vegetable Broth at once and let it cook just like rice… WRONG! DO NOT DO THIS! That was Cra Cra. 😛
Ok so I’ll stop now with the rules, that was obnoxious. But I just want you all to make this Risotto because it is seriously my new Obsession! And it is sooooo incredibly yummy!
Watch the quick 60 second video below on how to make this recipe!
Now I also just wanted to note that I cooked the Scallops first and set them aside, because once you start the Risotto you have to keep stirring it, and you want to eat it as soon as it’s made so it’s velvety, creamy, but yet firm in texture.
You can quickly re-heat the Scallops for 1 minute in the skillet when the Risotto is done if needed, but I found they were still warm and tender.
If you try this recipe let me know what you think! Leave a comment below, rate it, share it on social media, or take a picture and tag it tastefulventure on Instagram!
I LOVE seeing what you guys cook up. 🙂
Cheers!
Brown Butter Scallops with Parmesan Risotto
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 45 mins
- Yield: 2 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Cuisine: Seafood, Italian, Gluten Free
Ingredients
- For the Scallops:
- 1/2 lb Dry Sea Scallops (about 12 large sized)
- Pinch of Sea Salt
- Pinch of Pepper
- 2–3 Tbs EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
- 2 Tbs softened grass fed salted Butter (I prefer Kerrygold brand)
- Fresh Chopped Parsley for garnish if desired
- For the Risotto:
- 2 Tbs EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
- 2 Tbs finely chopped Shallots
- 1 clove minced Garlic
- 1 cup Arborio or Carnaroli Rice
- 1/2 cup Dry White Cooking Wine
- 2 cups heated Vegetable Stock
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
- 1/2 tsp Pepper
- 2 Tbs softened grass fed salted Butter
- 1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
Instructions
- For the Scallops:
- Pull side muscle off scallops if needed, rinse Scallops and pat dry (make sure they are dry before putting in the pan so they don’t stick)
- Sprinkle Salt and Pepper over both sides of Scallops
- Add EVOO to a Cast Iron Skillet to lightly coat the bottom (I prefer cast iron because the heat distributes evenly)
- Heat over med-high heat until oil shimmers
- Place Scallops in skillet and cook 3-4 minutes until golden brown (don’t move them or fuss with them until ready to flip)
- Using a thin spatula or tongs gently turn the Scallops over
- Add Butter to skillet, when it starts to melt spoon the butter over the Scallops cooking them approximately 3-4 minutes until golden brown
- Set pan aside and start the Risotto
- Preheat EVOO in a medium saucepan over medium heat
- When oil gets warm, add shallots and saute until golden color (approximately 2 minutes)
- Add Garlic and saute 1 minute
- Add Rice and stir for 1-2 minutes until toasted
- Add White Wine and cook until Wine is reduced or evaporated
- Add in 1/2 cup Vegetable Stock and stir (it’s important to keep stirring – see notes below)
- When Vegetable Stock starts to get evaporated (after about 5 minutes), add another 1/2 cup of Vegetable Stock
- Add in Salt, and Pepper to Rice and stir
- Add 1/2 cup Vegetable Stock approximately every 5 minutes, stirring constantly (total cook time for the risotto is about 20 minutes)
- Taste and add more Salt/Pepper if needed
- Taste the rice and when you are 1 minute before reaching the right bite “al dente” (meaning rice should be tender but still firm to the bite), add Butter and Parmesan Cheese.
- Turn off heat and stir quickly until creamy in texture.
- Sprinkle a bit of Parmesan on top
- Add Scallops and serve immediately
- Enjoy!
- Notes:
- Make sure your Vegetable Stock stays hot. It’s important to add a little bit of the hot Vegetable Stock at a time so the rice is cooked slowly and the stock gets absorbed. This method releases the rice’s starches, producing a velvety, creamy dish.
- It’s very important to keep stirring the Risotto as it’s cooking, especially as the stock gets absorbed, to prevent scorching.
- If you run out of Vegetable Stock and you find this is too dry at the end, you can add in a little hot water as a substitute.
Hi, I'm Sara! I'm addicted to Food and Travel, and love to write about both and photograph everything!
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