Buttery Lobster Risotto

Creamy risotto with chunks of buttery lobster is a restaurant quality meal that you can prepare at home. Whether making the risotto for a romantic dinner with your significant other or serving it as a starter at a dinner party, it’s a delicious recipe everyone will love.

In Italy, risotto is a first course dish of rice that is cooked in broth with butter and onions. As the rice is stirred, starches are released creating a very creamy consistency. The creamy risotto is the perfect match for sweet and tender chunks of buttery lobster meat that makes for a special evening meal. While lobster is not an everyday ingredient, this recipe only uses about a cup of lobster meat. That means that the lobster risotto can be prepared at home for a fraction of the price you would have to pay if your ordered this dish in a nice restaurant. Risotto is easier to make than most people think so this recipe is one that you absolutely must make when you want something elegant to serve at an evening meal.  

Buttery Lobster Risotto For A Special Romantic Dinner

Lobster Risotto

Serves 4 as a starter or 2 as a generous main course

• 4 c. lobster stock (see recipe below), store bought seafood stock or clam juice diluted with water
• 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oi
• 1/2 c. diced onion
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 c. dry white wine
• 1 c. Arborio rice (1/3 c. per person for starter, 1/2 c. per person to main course)
• 3 Tbsp. butter
• cooked meat from a 1 and 1/2 lb. lobster, cut into small bites (see kitchen notes)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 Tbsp. finely minced parsley, optional garnish

Bring stock to a simmer in a saucepan and keep warm. Heat oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion, sauté until translucent then add garlic and cook 1 minute. Add rice, stir to coat and cook 2 – 3 minutes. Add wine and simmer until almost completely absorbed. Add a ladle of stock, enough to cover the rice, and simmer, stirring often. Continue adding stock, a ladle at a time, simmering until the liquid is almost absorbed before adding the next ladleful. Cook until tender and slightly al dente, about 15 to 20 minutes.

While the risotto is simmering, melt the butter in a small sauce pan over low heat. Add the lobster meat, gently stir until coated and just warm. (You do not want to cook the lobster any more, just heated through.

When the risotto is finished cooking, remove from the heat. Stir well to make the risotto creamy. Add the lobster and melted butter and stir gently. Season with salt and pepper and taste. Stir in an additional tablespoon of cold butter for a silky finish, if you wish. Divide the risotto into bowls, top with a piece of lobster and sprinkle with parsley, then serve immediately.

Lobster Stock: To make lobster stock, break the lobster carcass into several pieces and place in a pot. Cover with 6 cups of water. Season with salt and black pepper. Add any aromatics that you wish (see kitchen notes). Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for 30 minutes. Remove cover and simmer until reduced to 4 cups. Strain stock and keep warm.

Ask your fish market to steam the lobster if you don’t want to do it at home. You can also buy cooked and picked lobster meat, fresh or frozen, but it is usually more expensive.

A one and one half pound lobster yields approximately 1 1/3 cups of cooked lobster meat or use two 8 oz. lobster tails when making this recipe.

Lobster shells make a wonderful stock to use to flavor risottos and other seafood dishes such as bisques, soups and stews.

When preparing stock, you can add aromatics such as a small onion, fennel bulb, a stalk of celery or sprigs of parsley for added flavor.

Arborio rice is a short grain rice from Italy. It’s high starch content gives risotto its creamy texture. Do not use regular long grain rice.

While cheese is often used in risottos, Italians usually don’t mix cheese with seafood.

Notes From The Kitchen

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This creamy risotto filled with tender, buttery lobster uses very few ingredients, about a cup of lobster meat, olive oil, butter, onion garlic, rice, white wine and stock, which can be either homemade or store bought. With everything prepped, it only takes about 30 minutes of cooking to have an incredibly delicious starter or main course that will surely impress those who you share the dish with. While lobster can be an expensive ingredient, you can sometimes find it at a good price during different times of the year, ask your market if they ever put lobster on sale. I used the lobster shell to make stock, making good use of every part of the lobster. If lobster is hard to find in your area, shrimp, prawns or langoustine have similar flavors, and will be just as elegant.