Shrimp Risotto — The Recipe That Brought Me Full Circle

Week one hundred. I have written one hundred of these, baby. One hundred weeks of standing in my kitchen and telling you what I cooked and what happened and what I thought about while I stirred. If you'd told me two years ago that a sixty-year-old woman with one finger and an iPad would write a hundred of anything, I'd have said you were dreaming. But here we are. A hundred weeks. A hundred recipes. A hundred pieces of a life that keeps going, Lord willing and the creek don't rise.

I celebrated by making shrimp and grits. The hundredth recipe goes back to the first, because some things are circular and cooking is one of them. The same stone-ground grits from Sapelo Island. The same butter, the same cheddar, the same shrimp from the dock. Hattie Pearl's skillet on the stove. The marsh through the window. Earl in his chair.

Kayla called this week and she sounded different. Not tired-different or stressed-different. Excited-different. She said, "Grandma, I got my clinical evaluation back. Perfect marks. My preceptor said I'm ready." I said, "Baby, I've known you were ready since you were twenty and asking me to teach you shrimp and grits because you wanted to feed people the way I feed people." She went quiet. Then she said, "Is that why I wanted to be a nurse? Because of you?" I said, "No, baby. You wanted to be a nurse because of your daddy. Because you lost him and you decided that losing people was unacceptable and you were going to learn how to fight for them. I just showed you that fighting looks like feeding."

She cried. I cried. We cried on the phone like two women who love each other and who carry the same dead man in their hearts and who have turned that loss into a purpose so fierce it could light a city. Michael. Always Michael. The boy I raised who became the man who left too soon who left a daughter who became a nurse. The chain, baby. The chain goes on.

Earl watched me cry from his recliner. When I hung up, he said, "Kayla?" I said, "She's ready." He said, "She's been ready." I said, "I know." He said, "Michael would be proud." I said, "Michael IS proud." Present tense. Always present tense. The dead don't stop being proud.

Now go on and feed somebody.

I wrote the story first, and then I stood at the stove and I stirred — because that’s what a hundred weeks has taught me, that the stirring is the thinking and the thinking is the healing. I couldn’t find Hattie Pearl’s grits at the market that afternoon, so I made risotto instead, and you know what? The motion is the same. Low heat. Patience. Butter. Shrimp from the dock. You stir it until it becomes something more than what you started with, and that, honey, is the whole story of this life right there.

Shrimp Risotto

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 35 minutes | Total Time: 50 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails removed
• 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
• 5 cups low-sodium chicken or seafood broth, kept warm
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 small yellow onion, finely diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Instructions

1. Season the shrimp. Pat shrimp dry and toss with Old Bay, a pinch of salt, and black pepper. Set aside.
2. Warm the broth. In a small saucepan over low heat, keep the broth at a gentle simmer throughout cooking. Cold broth will slow your risotto and break the creaminess.
3. Build the base. In a wide, heavy-bottomed skillet or Dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon butter and the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more until fragrant.
4. Toast the rice. Add the Arborio rice and stir to coat in the fat. Cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until the edges of the grains turn slightly translucent. You want to hear a faint crackle — that’s the starch waking up.
5. Deglaze with wine. Pour in the white wine and stir until fully absorbed, about 2 minutes.
6. Add broth slowly. Add warm broth one ladleful at a time, stirring frequently and allowing each addition to be nearly absorbed before adding the next. This process takes 20–25 minutes. Do not rush it. The stirring is the point.
7. Sear the shrimp. When the rice has about 5 minutes left (it should be just slightly underdone and still a little loose), push it to the edges of the pan and add 1 tablespoon butter to the center. Add shrimp in a single layer and cook 1 1/2 to 2 minutes per side until pink and just curled. Remove from heat.
8. Finish the risotto. Stir the shrimp back in. Remove pan from heat. Stir in the remaining tablespoon of butter, the Parmesan, lemon juice, and red pepper flakes if using. The risotto should be creamy and flow gently when the pan is tilted — not stiff, not soupy. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
9. Serve immediately. Spoon into warm bowls and top with fresh parsley. Eat it while it’s hot, and eat it with someone you love.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 520 | Protein: 32g | Fat: 18g | Carbs: 54g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 780mg