Creamy Shrimp Risotto - Instant Pot

Quick to cook but bursting with fabulous flavor, this creamy shrimp risotto is made in an Instant Pot, with garlic herb Boursin added for extra richness.

I love eating risotto of any kind. It’s always a welcome bowl of comfort food, especially as the weather starts to turn chilly. 

Some days I love standing next to the warm stove, ladling in stock and stirring until the arborio rice releases its starch and turns into creamy wonderfulness worthy of the time and effort. 

And some days I don’t! That is when I turn to my handy Instant Pot which makes an equally lovely bowl of risotto, comparatively speaking, in mere minutes. It’s creamy even without the Boursin but don’t skip that ingredient! It adds herbs and a subtle cheesiness that makes each spoonful so very good. 

Creamy Shrimp Risotto - Instant Pot

The weight of the shrimp is AFTER peeling and deveining. I buy the already deveined easy-to-peel ones without heads. I used Knorr shrimp cubes to make the stock. This recipe is adapted from one on Food Network.

Ingredients

1 shallot

5 cloves garlic

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups or 300g arborio rice

1/2 cup or 120ml dry white wine

3 1/2 cups or 840ml seafood stock

1 lb or 450g peeled and deveined large shrimp

3/4 cup or 85g frozen peas, thawed

1 Boursin cheese, 5.2 oz or 150g, at room temperature (see photo below)

Zest 1 lemon, divided

Optional to serve: grated Parmesan

Method

Mince the shallot and garlic. 

Set an Instant Pot to sauté on the medium setting. When the pot is hot, add 2 tablespoons of the butter, then add the shallot, garlic and a good pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. 

Stir in the rice and cook until the rice is toasted, about 3 minutes. 

Stir in the wine, scraping the bottom of the pot, and cook until evaporated, about 30 seconds. Turn off the sauté function. 

[As you can imagine, photos of that step were nothing but steamy blurs!]

Stir the seafood stock into the pot. 

Close the lid and turn the steam valve to the sealing position. Set the pot to cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. 

While the rice is cooking, season the shrimp with salt and pepper. 

When the time is up, turn the valve to the venting position and release the steam completely. Be careful of any remaining steam and unlock the lid.

Add the seasoned shrimp in a single layer on top to the pot along with the peas. 

Turn the Instant Pot to “warm” mode. Close the lid and let the shrimp cook for 5 minutes. (Set a timer as the Instant Pot will count up but, at least on mine, there’s no way to set it to go off warm at a certain time.) 

Stir the shrimp into the rice, close the lid and leave on warm for 5 more minutes. (Set another timer!)

Add in the Boursin, lemon zest and the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to the risotto.

Stir until the cheese and butter are melted. 

Divide among bowls. Top with lemon zest. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Enjoy!

It's Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing our favorite risotto recipes. Check out the links below. 

• Creamy Shrimp Risotto - Instant Pot from Food Lust People Love
• Just in Time for Halloween: Spooky Risotto from Culinary Cam
• Risotto ai Funghi from Our Good Life
• Risotto with Chicken and Cranberries from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Shrimp Risotto from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Vegetarian Creamy Mushroom Risotto from Sneha's Recipe

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Ballymaloe Potted Shrimp

A traditional Irish starter, this Ballymaloe potted shrimp recipe is from the Ballymaloe Restaurant cookbook, updated by Irish cooking teacher and doyenne Darina Allen. Flavored with garlic and lemon juice, this Irish recipe is fresh and so tasty. 

Unlike English potted shrimp, the Irish version doesn't have nutmeg which makes this my favorite potted shrimp. Not that I don't like nutmeg but I've always kind of thought it weird with shrimp. The Irish also use Atlantic shrimp instead of the Morecambe Bay brown shrimp typical in English potted shrimp. I used wild caught cold water shrimp which I thought might be close to the Irish ones. 

When Myrtle Allen opened Ballymaloe Restaurant in East Cork back in 1964, it was a revolutionary place, serving delicious recipes using only local seasonal ingredients. It would not be an understatement to say that Ballymaloe changed Irish food culture with that emphasis. 

Her daughter-in-law, Darina Allen, a chef in her own right, continued Myrtle’s legacy and expanded her reach when, along with her brother, she opened the Ballymaloe Cookery School in 1983. Darina is also a leader in the Slow Food Movement in Ireland. 

Darina's own daughter-in-law Rachel Allen is a well-known food writer, cookbook author and tv chef as well as also teaching at the Ballymaloe Cookery School. I'm pretty sure when you search "Irish chef," photos of the Allen family appear near the top of the list!

Ballymaloe Potted Shrimp

Darina says that this amount serves four as a first course – and it is rich because of the clarified butter - but two of us polished this off in no time. I anticipated that, as you can see, by only putting it in two little pots. If I were indeed serving four, I'd double the amounts. Although the recipe is originally from the Ballymaloe Cookbook, Darina also shared it online, in a tribute to Keith Floyd. 

Ingredients

1 small clove garlic

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 oz or 56g clarified butter or ghee, with extra as needed

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (plus tender sprigs to garnish, if desired)

freshly ground black pepper

4 oz or 110g (about 1 cup) shelled, cooked salad shrimp

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Method

Use the side of a wide knife to crush the garlic into a paste with the salt. I hit the garlic clove once then added the salt, which makes it easier to crush. 

Bring the clarified butter to a low boil along with the thyme leaves, crushed garlic and a couple of grinds of black pepper. 

Add the shrimp and toss for about 30 seconds. Set aside to rest. Season with a little more salt, if necessary and add the lemon juice. Stir to combine.

 

Pack the shrimp into little pots and pour over the clarified butter. 

Melt a little more ghee as need to just about cover the shrimp. Finish each pot with the tender end of a fresh thyme sprig. 

Put the pots into the refrigerator and leave to set. Potted shrimp will keep in the refrigerated for three or four days so they are a great make-ahead starter for dinner parties.

Remove the little pots from the refrigerator and leave to come to room temperature before serving with sourdough bread or sliced baguette.

Enjoy! 

It’s been seven great years posting recipes with my Fish Friday Foodie friends so I am sad to say that this will be our final group post. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm who started this group and kept us motivated to add more seafood to our menu plans for so long. Today, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, we are sharing Irish recipes. Check them out below. 

• Food Lust People Love cooked Ballymaloe Potted Shrimp
• Sid’s Sea Palm Cooking shares Boxty with Smoked Salmon
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories made Cod Soup
• Sneha’s Recipe has Dublin Lawyer(Shrimp in Irish Whiskey Cream Sauce)
• Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice cooked up Fish & Potato Chowder with Irish Whiskey
• A Day in the Life on the Farm is serving Irish Fish Cakes

Fish Friday Foodies is ending its run but our recipes can still be found on our Pinterest page! Check it out for more wonderful fish and seafood recipe ideas.

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Salmon and Shrimp Strudel

This salmon and shrimp strudel is fish pie made fancy but that doesn’t mean it’s not easy! Puff pastry elevates this most tasty of fillings to fabulous. 

I’m a fan of pastry in all its forms, shortcrust, puff, rough puff, phyllo, what else have I missed? I firmly believe that with a bit of pastry any dish is made better, especially if it bakes up flakey, golden and maybe a little bit crunchy. 

For just that reason, for this month’s Fish Friday Foodie friends event, I chose seafood in pastry for our theme. I make this same dish with chicken for a fancy chicken pie but the salmon and shrimp version is way more flavorful. 

Salmon and Shrimp Strudel

Do not get too caught up in exact weights for the vegetables. I give the weights of mine to give you a guideline only. After all, my idea of what a small onion is may not be the same as your own. This makes enough filling for two salmon and shrimp strudels. I baked one the first day and saved the filling for about the third day, refrigerated, then baked the second. Both delicious and we were delighted to eat it again, just the two of us. If you are feeding four people, bake them both the same day! 

Ingredients - to serve four 

1/2 large or 1 whole small onion (about 5 1/3 oz or 150g)

1 long stalk celery, trimmed (about 2 3/4 oz or 78g)

1 - 2 medium carrots, cut in fine dice (ideally you want about the same amount of carrots as peas)

1 potato, cut in large dice (9 oz or 256g unpeeled) – soaked in cold water to stop it turning brown

1 1/2 cups or 380ml milk

1 teaspoon fine sea salt for poaching, plus extra at the end for final seasoning

10 oz or 284g wild salmon

1 lb or 450g thawed, peeled shrimp

1 slice streaky bacon

2 tablespoons or 28g butter or a little bit extra as needed

1/4 cup or 31g flour

2 tablespoons or 30ml heavy cream

1 tablespoon whole grained mustard

Zest and juice of ½ lemon

3/4 cup or 95g frozen peas, thawed

1 teaspoon fine sea salt, or to taste

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

2 (9 oz or 255g) all butter puff pastry sheet (I used the Trader Joe’s brand), thawed

Method

Peel and mince the onion. Remove the tough strings and mince the celery. Peel and cut the carrots into small dice. Notice the peas for size comparison. 

Poach the salmon in simmering milk, skin side down, for 10 minutes. 

Remove the salmon from the pot with a slotted spoon and add the shrimp. 

Bring it back up to temperature and then turn it down to simmer for about 5 minutes. 

While the shrimp poach, carefully remove the skin from the salmon and discard. 

(Or fry till crispy with a little oil in a nonstick skillet as the chef’s treat. We always do!)

Remove the shrimp from the pot with a slotted spoon and set aside to cool. 

Cook the potato cubes in the reserved poaching liquid for about five minutes or until almost cooked through. Use a slotted spoon to remove from the liquid. Pour the liquid into another vessel and set both aside to cool.  

Wash the pot out and then fry the bacon strip in it. Remove it from the pot when crispy. Chop the bacon into small strips.

Add the butter to any bacon fat left in the pan and sauté the onion, celery and carrots in it for about 10-12 minutes, covered, until softened. 

Test a carrot piece. If it’s cooked or just about, you are good to go. 

Slowly sprinkle the flour onto the vegetables and stir well with each addition. 

We are trying to avoid lumps of flour. Add a little more butter if the flour is dry. 

Cook for a few minutes. Stir in the poaching liquid slowly. 

Cook for a couple of minutes until the mixture thickens a little. 

Remove the pan from the heat. 

Add in the bacon, cream, mustard, lemon zest and juice. Stir well. 

Add in cooked potatoes and the shrimp, along with any juice that has accumulated on the cooling plate. Use your hands to break the salmon into smaller pieces and add them to the pot. Don’t go too small or they will ending breaking down completely when you fold to mix. Top with the peas.

Fold the ingredients together gently. Sprinkle with a little salt, the black pepper and cayenne, if using. 

Fold the ingredients again to combine. 

Refrigerate the filling, covered, until it is chilled and you are ready to bake the strudel. 

When you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C.

Lay one square of the puff pastry out on piece of baking parchment. 

Use a rolling pin to roll it out a little more from the middle, creating a rectangle out of your puff pastry square. 

Pile half of the cold filling in the middle of the puff pastry.

Cut slits in each side about a 1/2 inch or 1 cm in width. Leave the ends intact. 

Fold one end up and tuck the sides toward the middle. Fold the other end up and pinch to connect them to hold in the filling. 

Cut the rest of the pastry outside into pieces. Randomly pull each cut piece up and over, connecting them together over the filling and pinching to make them hold, knowing that they probably won’t but, hey, it’s worth a try. 

If you are baking both strudels the same day, put the first filled one in the refrigerator and repeat the process with the second puff pastry and the rest of the filling.

Bake the strudel in your preheated oven for about 35-40 minutes or until the pastry is puffed and golden and the filling is hot through. (Use a thermometer to check.) If it’s browning more quickly than it is heating through, you can cover it with foil. 

Remove from the oven and leave to rest for about 10 minutes before slicing to serve.  

Enjoy! 

Check out the lovely pastry seafood dishes my Fish Friday Foodie friends are sharing today: 

• Gluten Free Prawn /Shrimp Quiche - with Homemade Gluten Free Pie Crust from Sneha's Recipe
• Salmon and Shrimp Strudel from Food Lust People Love
• Shrimp Cups from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Shrimp in a Blanket from Karen's Kitchen Stories

Would you like to join Fish Friday Foodies? We post and share new seafood/fish recipes on the third Friday of the month. To join our group please email Wendy at wendyklik1517 (at) gmail.com. Visit our Facebook page and Pinterest page for more wonderful fish and seafood recipe ideas.

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Shrimp Spring Roll Bowls

If you love fresh spring rolls with noodles, cucumber, carrot and a lovely spicy dipping sauce, you will love these shrimp spring roll bowls! They are so tasty and easy to make! 

One of my favorite things to eat are these fresh shrimp spring rolls but they are fiddly to put together. First, you have to cook the shrimp flat so they fit in the roll. Then there's the whole soaking the rice paper wrapper till it's pliant enough but not TOO soft so it rips. A labor of love that always felt worth it, till now. 

When our Sunday FunDay host chose "meals in bowls" as our theme today, it occurred to me that, truly, the rice paper wrapper is completely unnecessary unless, of course, you need finger food. 

If you are eating at home and have a table and a fork (spoon also helpful!), the bowls make a wonderful, fresh meal. This revelation is a game changer for me and I don’t think I’ll make rolls again! Not having to wrap the filling meant I could also add some carrots and radishes. All in all, these bowls were a good decision. 

Shrimp Spring Roll Bowls

The noodles used in these bowls are called bean thread noodles or sometimes glass noodles. They are made of mung beans. They are not the same as rice noodles but you’ll find those two noodle types together at many grocery stores in the international aisle or in any Asian market. Depending on the level of heat you enjoy, use all bird’s eye chili peppers or a combo of the bigger less hot chili peppers and the bird’s eye ones. 

Ingredients to serve 2 generously (we both had a little bit leftover)

3 bundles bean thread noodles (about 5 1/3 oz or 150g)

8 large shrimp, peeled and cleaned

fine sea salt

1 small carrot (about 40g), cut in thin strips

1/4 long cucumber (115g), seeded removed, cut in sticks

Small bunch cilantro leaves

1 green onion, thinly sliced

4 French radishes or their round equivalent

For those of you wondering how I got the carrots this thin, here's the tool I used. It looks kind of like a peeler but it cuts the carrot into thin strips. I have no idea what it's called but I love it. 

For the sauce/dressing:

3 hot red chili peppers, minced

1/2 cup or 120ml rice vinegar 

1/2 cup or 120ml water

1/3 cup or 75g sugar

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt 

To serve:

Fish sauce, optional - we like the little bit of extra flavor and saltiness it adds to these shrimp spring roll bowls. 

Method 

Put the noodles in a heatproof bowl and cover them with boiling water. 

Leave to soak for a few minutes then tip into a colander and rinse well with cold water. Set aside in the colander to drain. 

Cut the shrimp into pieces and lightly salt them.  Cook in a small skillet till cooked through. 

To make the sauce, chop your peppers finely.

Put all the sauce ingredients into a small pot. 

Bring to a boil and then simmer, uncovered, until it is reduced to one-third of the original amount. Turn the fire off. It will thicken even more as it cools. 

Cut the noodles with scissors to make them easier to eat. Put them in a large bowl and pour the warm sauce over them and stir to combine. 

At this point, you can finish assembling the bowls or you can cover and refrigerate the noodles to assemble later. 

To assemble the bowls, divide the noodles into two bowls. Add the cucumber and carrot sticks, the cilantro leaves, shrimp, green onion and radishes. Finish with a drizzle of fish sauce, if desired. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are all sharing “meals in bowls.” Check out the links below. Many thanks to our host, Mayuri from Mayuri’s Jikoni.

• Shredded Beef Taco Bowls from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Greek Chicken Rice Bowls from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Saffron Bulgur Bowl from Palatable Pastime
• Tofu and Sprouted Moong Buddha Bowl from Cook with Renu
• Shrimp Spring Roll Bowls from Food Lust People Love
• Cheesy Rice Bowl - Cafe McDonalds Style from Sneha’s Recipe
• Baked Falafel Bowl from Mayuri’s Jikoni

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join. 

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