Take your risotto game up a notch with this Champagne Lobster Risotto recipe. This meal is great for New Year’s Eve or Valentine’s Day when you’re most likely already popping a bottle of the bubbly to share with your lucky dinner partner. We’ve included a variation of this recipe for the pizza oven in case you feel the need to take your cooking outside.
Ingredients
1 cooked whole lobster, about 1lb
2- ½ cups fish stock
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
¾ cup Arborio rice
Juice of 1 lemon
2/3 cup champagne or sparkling wine
2 ounces of butter
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
½ cup parmesan cheese
Stove Top Directions
(Serves 2)
Bring the stock to a boil in a sauce pan, then reduce the heat and keep it simmering gently over low heat while you cook the risotto.
Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté for 4 minutes or until the onion becomes translucent. After 4 minutes, add the garlic and cook for an additional 30 seconds.
Add the rice and stir until the rice is coated in oil. Pour in the lemon juice and champagne and stir for 1 minute until the mixture is reduced.
Gradually add the hot stock, a ladleful at a time. Stir constantly and add more liquid as the rice absorbs the stock. Increase the heat to medium so the liquid bubbles. Cook for 20 minutes or until all of the liquid is absorbed and the rice is creamy.
Five minutes before the end of the cooking time, add the lobster meat.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter, parsley, and parmesan. Spoon onto warm plates and serve immediately. Serve with the remaining champagne.
Wood Fired Oven Directions
(Serves 2)
Light a fire in the oven and let it burn down to a roasting oven environment .
Pour the stock into a sauce pan with a lid. Cover the pan and place it toward the cooler side of the oven and let the stock simmer while you cook the risotto.
Pour the olive oil into a walled pan (you will need one with a lid) and slide it into the oven. WARNING:From here on out, be sure to wear oven mitts, because you will be sliding an extremely hot pan in and out of the oven.
Once the oil is hot, pull the pan out and add the onions. Place the pan back in the oven and sauté for 4 minutes or until the onions becomes translucent. From time to time, remove the pan from the oven and stir the onions. The wood fired oven should give your onions a great caramelization and a nice bit of char. After 4 minutes, remove the pan from the oven and add the garlic. Cook the garlic, with the residual heat, outside of the oven for an additional 30 seconds.
Add the rice and stir until the rice is coated in oil. Pour in the lemon juice and champagne and return the pan to the oven for 1 minute until the mixture is reduced.
Remove the pan and add half the hot stock. Stir the mixture well and cover the pan with a lid before placing it back in the oven. From time to time, remove the pan from the oven and stir the risotto. Add more liquid as the rice absorbs the stock. Cook for 20 minutes or until all of the liquid is absorbed and the rice is creamy. Keep the pan covered, the entire time the rice is cooking, except to occasionally stir the risotto.
Five minutes before the end of the cooking time, add the lobster meat.
Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter, the parsley, and parmesan. Spoon onto warm plates and serve immediately. Serve with the remaining champagne.