Risotto with fennel, smoked paprika and prawns

Actually, I felt like paella, but I still had risotto rice at home. The result is a pan of risotto, slightly inspired by the flavors of paella, but which still has its own taste profile. I’m talking about this risotto with fennel, smoked paprika and prawns. Wherever spices…

I served it with a gamba, or large tiger shrimp, and found 1 copy per person to be enough. Because my fishmonger had gigantic prawns lying around and the taste of them complemented the risotto nicely. If your shrimps are smaller, you can of course grill several of them.

Would you rather eat the risotto with fennel vegetarian? Then leave out the prawns, use vegetable broth, add some grilled bell pepper as a topping and the fresh herbs for garnish.

More inspiration for the tastiest plates of risotto? View all my risotto recipes here!

Heat a large frying pan and melt a knob of butter in it. Fry the onion for 5 minutes on medium heat with a pinch of salt. At the last minute, stir in the smoked paprika and garlic and fry.
Sprinkle the risotto rice into the pan and fry for 2 minutes, stirring, until the rice starts to look translucent. Deglaze with the white wine and simmer, stirring again, until the wine has almost evaporated.
Place the pan with hot broth next to your frying pan. Add 2 heaped tablespoons of the hot stock to the pan with your rice, along with 1.5 teaspoons of finely chopped rosemary and oregano and stir gently until the liquid has almost evaporated. Then add another ladleful of stock, stir twice and wait again until the liquid has almost evaporated. Repeat this until the rice grains are al dente and the risotto is nice and creamy (don’t let the liquid evaporate completely at the end). This takes about 20 minutes.
Tip: You don’t have to stir constantly, it is important to do this once or twice with every new soup spoon, and once in between. This way the rice grains release enough starches and the risotto cannot burn on the bottom.
In the meantime, cut the fennel bulb into 4 quarters. Shave each quarter with a mandoline or in a food processor into wafer-thin slices. Add the fennel to the risotto after about 15 minutes so that it can continue to cook for a while.
First grate the zest of the orange, then halve it and also add a squeeze of orange juice to the risotto.
Toss the prawns in a large bowl with olive oil and a pinch of salt. Prepare a grill pan and brush it with oil.
When the risotto is al dente, turn off the heat. Add a few more knobs of butter and stir in along with the grated orange zest. Taste and season with black pepper and/or salt if desired. Let stand for a while with the lid on the pan.
Heat the grill pan over a high heat and grill the prawns until done. They only need a maximum of 2-3 minutes or they will get tough. Once they’re all pink and curled up nicely, they’re done. Deglaze at the end by squeezing half an orange over it. Then sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper.
Serve the risotto in deep plates and garnish with some remaining rosemary and oregano. Place the grilled prawns on top and serve immediately.

With this recipe you can make a main course for 4 people.
I am a big fan of these shellfish bouillon cubes from Fattoria Italia.
Buy a pack of fresh Italian herbs in the supermarket, which contains both fresh rosemary and oregano.
The prawns I found at the fishmonger were gigantic and that is why I thought 1 copy per person was more than enough. If your shrimp are a bit smaller, you can also grill several shrimp per person.
I grill the prawns whole (head and all) because of the taste. I then remove the intestinal tract afterwards during peeling. But you can also grill them without the head, of course. You can do that yourself or ask the fishmonger. He can therefore immediately remove the intestinal tract for you.
Prefer vegan(s)? Then leave out the prawns, use vegetable butter and vegetable stock, add some grilled bell pepper as a topping and the fresh herbs for garnish.
Preparation: 50 minutes