My review for The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook follows this delightful recipe. I received the book at no charge for my honest review. I chose this lobster risotto recipe because risotto is one of my favorite meals and this was a way to make it date night special.
Lobster Pesto Risotto
from Barbara Ross author of the Maine Clambake Mysteries
Serves 6-8
5 cups seafood stock
1 TBS olive oil
1 onion chopped
2 cups arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup cooked lobster meat, chopped
4 TBS Pesto, more for topping
2 TBS unsalted butter
salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese and toasted pine nuts for serving
Heat seafood stock in saucepan. Do not boil
In a large saute pan heat oil and onion over med to med high heat until onion is translucent
Add rice to oil and onions and stir well to coat the grains.
Add three ladlefulls of stock to the rice and stir until it is all absorbed.
After it is absorbed add more stock a little at a time until just about is gone.
When just about a ladlefull is left add the pesto, butter and lobster to the rice. Gently stir to mix and add the last bit of stock.
Turn off the heat and let sit for about 7 minutes.
Serve with Parmesan cheese, extra pesto and toasted pine nuts if you would like.
How Was this Lobster Recipe?
This was really good. But then again it was lobster. I served it with simple roasted broccoli. I had made the stock and the pesto earlier in the day so by the time I was ready to cook dinner it all came together within half an hour. This recipe would be just as good with shrimp or scallops and if you switched to chicken stock, chicken. It’s a great base recipe to just play with. It could even go vegetarian with vegetable stock and broccoli.
Other Risotto Recipes:
HOLIDAY RISOTTO
BEER CHEESE RISOTTO
RISOTTO MILANESE
All purchase links are affiliate links which means if you buy anything through them I will receive a small commission (at no additional charge to you)
Cookbook Review: The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook – Lobster Pesto Risotto Recipe
- Category: Main Dish
Ingredients
- 5 cups seafood stock
- 1 TBS olive oil
- 1 onion chopped
- 2 cups arborio rice
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 1 cup cooked lobster meat, chopped
- 4 TBS Pesto, more for topping
- 2 TBS unsalted butter
- salt and pepper to taste
- Parmesan cheese and toasted pine nuts for serving
Instructions
- Heat seafood stock in saucepan. Do not boil
- In a large saute pan heat oil and onion over med to med high heat until onion is translucent
- Add rice to oil and onions and stir well to coat the grains.
- Add three ladlefulls of stock to the rice and stir until it is all absorbed.
- After it is absorbed add more stock a little at a time until just about is gone. When just about a ladlefull is left add the pesto, butter and lobster to the rice. Gently stir to mix and add the last bit of stock.
- Turn off the heat and let sit for about 7 minutes.
- Serve with Parmesan cheese, extra pesto and toasted pine nuts if you would like.
About the Book:
The Mystery Writers of America have joined forces to deliver this superb collection of more than 100 wickedly good recipes.
From Mary Higgins Clark’s Game Night Chili and Harlan Coben’s Crab Meat Dip to Scott Turow’s Innocent Frittata and Kathy Reich’s Shrimp Scampi, this cookbook offers one tasty treat after another.
Complete with a glamorous art-deco design and intriguing sidebars on the surprising—and sometimes deadly—links between food and foul play, this is the ultimate cookbook for crime aficionados.
About the Editor:
Kate White, the former editor in chief of Cosmopolitan, is the New York Times best-selling author of the Bailey Weggins mystery series and three novels of suspense, including Eyes on You.
My Opinion:
I thought this was an interesting conceit for a cookbook. After all, so many of the books we all read have passages that circle around food. There are several cozy series that are built on baking or different types of cooking – say Italian for example. This book gathers recipes from different authors; they are either from the protagonists in their books, drawn from the spirit of the book or personal to the author. It’s broken down into conventional sections with cocktail recipes tossed in here and there.
The recipes for the most part don’t break any new ground but there were some that intrigued me. You’ll see one below. I think most people will enjoy this more for the connection to their favorite authors. It was fun reading the intros to the recipes; each one gave a little history behind the meal.
