Friday Night Dinner

For the last 3 weeks when Jenny and I got together for our Friday night dinners they largely revolved around shrimp. I got it in my head that I would introduce Jenny to the wonderful world of scallops. At some point in the week I decided dinner had to include risotto. I haven't had risotto in a while but I couldn't decide what kind to make. I've made cheesey risotto, butternut squash risotto, mushroom risotto, etc. I did a quick search for risotto recipes and scanned down the list until I found a recipe for Red Wine Risotto and Peas. It seemed reminiscent of one of my favorite other recipes Red Wine Spaghetti with Broccoli Rabe (I throw sausage in as well which I think makes it perfect). I decided to go with the Red Wine Risotto and Peas. The recipe calls for 1/3 cup of frozen peas but as I was prepping the ingredients I decided that was definitely not going to be enough, so I threw an extra cup in.

The recipe starts out in the best possible of ways...melt 3 tablespoons of butter!

 Add a cup of chopped onion.

 Toast a cup of arborio rice for about 2 minutes.

 And follow that up with 1/2 a cup of red wine. Stir until absorbed. Add 3/4 cups of warm chicken broth at a time, stirring until absorbed, add the next 3/4 cup of chicken broth...repeat as necessary.

 Eventually it will look like this!

 

 Hmm. Maybe the extra cup of peas was overkill??

 While the risotto is finishing up I threw the scallops in a pan with some butter.

 I think the 1 1/3 cups of peas was the right call! 1/3 cup of peas would have gotten lost in there!

 Plating expert I am not!

 Jenny may not feel the same way about scallops as I do...more for me!