Oh, my! I cannot believe it’s November already, where did this year go? The weather, as expected really, is grey, grim and wet so we need some colour and joyful dishes to lift up some moods and spirits over here. I am sure you do feel the same at that end too. This pork and seafood risotto dish does exactly that.
Oh, BUT...Happy 4th Birthday Ramona’s Cuisine!!
Ramona’s Cuisine was celebrated in the last few days, yay!!! It’s been 4 years and this is the 241st recipe!! I cannot believe it! Time definitely flies when you’re having fun.
All the cooking that kept me super busy, my lovely family, projects, my daily work, the volunteering, it’s all been good, really good. Life’s beautiful as I always say!
This post should have been a cake post but instead, I thought of sharing with you this gorgeous and super vibrant, comforting pork and seafood risotto. Full of flavour, colour and a truly delicious dish that I’ve made the other day. I do make seafood risotto often and realised that the recipe never went up. Only came to the realisation after my little judges popped the question. When they've heard it is not up, they said I better put it up it as it is too yummy not to. So, as any good mother would do, I listened, so here's my delicious seafood risotto recipe.
We enjoy this particular combination of pork and seafood risotto every single time but this time it really was extra delicious. The risotto rice was a really nice organic one from Organico and I have to say it was one of the best risotto rice I have had in a while. Amazing!
Organico has kindly sent me some products to try and I must admit I loved every single one. The fantastic taste of Italy, especially the chopped tomatoes which come from Toscana. Oh, those flavours! Used those to make a super delicious Chilli con Carne the other day. Plain deliciousness.
How to cook the rice for seafood risotto…. toast it or not?!
I know some toast the rice for risotto, I don’t! Not any more for quite some time now and the main reason for this is because all that creaminess produced by the starch gets spoiled.
Carnaroli rice, as well as Arborio (the risotto rice variety), are high in amylopectin which is responsible for the starch released when cooking.
It is exactly the same for Japanese rice.
Why turmeric and long pepper combination?
Well, I’ve only found this out recently. Research shows that the true benefits of turmeric can really be felt and multiplied when the two are paired. I found this fact quite interesting and since then I always make a pertinent effort to make sure extra pepper goes in.
It appears I was already doing this without even realising and one of the dishes that I’m thinking about it’s this delicious red split lentil curry I’m making, always add turmeric and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.
You don’t have long pepper....?
Nothing to worry, just use regular ground black pepper. The difference between long pepper and regular black pepper, I find, is in flavour and strength- black pepper being the stronger one. But this is my own finding and I might be wrong - my husband believes is the other way around ?.
Also, long pepper you can only buy in specific stores like an Asian grocery store or like I did, I buy mine in here.
Here’s an article on different types of pepper if you wish to read more on this. I love pepper and I like using all sort of different varieties. Here’s a little more on pepper varieties. They all produce different flavours.
Let’s get cooking!!
Pork and seafood risotto with turmeric and long pepper
Equipment
- skillet
- wooden spoon
- stove
- chopping board
Ingredients
- 350 g risotto rice
- 400 g pork loin cut into chunks
- 200 g prawns shrimps
- 500 ml vegetable stock heated up
- 100 ml double cream heavy cream
- 200 ml white wine
- 2 medium onions
- 3-4 cloves garlic crushed and chopped finely
- 2 squid tubes large (cut into rings)
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 tablespoon ginger freshly grated
- ¼ teaspoon long pepper powder
- 1 Red chilli
- 1 teaspoon Hawaiian red salt or pink Himalayan
- 2 spring onions ( scallions )
- 1 handful parsley fresh
- 2 tablespoon almond flakes to sprinkle over optional
- 2 tablespoon oil optional
Instructions
- Place a skillet on medium fire, add the pork and slightly brown the meat turning it on both sides.
- Add the onion and stir occasionally until this becomes soft. Add the garlic, the grated ginger, salt, pepper and the turmeric and cook for a further couple of minutes stirring occasionally. Drizzle in some stock if necessary if pork is sizzling away. We need it nice and brown but not too brown.
- Add the wine and then rice and stir gently so that it costs uniformly. Start adding the hot stock gradually until it all gets absorbed and the rice it’s cooked to perfection which is aldente.
- Add the double cream and half of the herbs, stir all in and cook for one more minute or two.
- Just 5-6 minutes before finishing add the prawns and the squid cut into rings.* (See recipe notes for alternative way of adding the seafood).
- Add the fresh herbs chopped chilli, spring onions and serve while still nice and hot.
Ali Hanson says
This looks great, I love your flavor combo. I have some shrimp in the freezer I was wondering what to do with them. This recipe looks perfect!
Ramona says
Thank you so much Ali xx
Kim @ Three Olives Branch says
I have been wanting to incorporate more turmeric into my cooking, and this sounds like the perfect way to do it! All of those colors and flavors sound perfect together, plus I am a sucker for risotto!
Constance says
I love risotto dishes. The turmeric must give it such a rich flavor, and the almond flakes are the perfect touch!
Leanne says
Congratulations on your blog anniversary! Four years is an awesome accomplishment. And this pork and seafood dish is a delicious recipe to celebrate with! Can't wait to see what you have planned next!
Ramona says
Thank you so much dear Leanne! Time flies, I know, it feels like yesterday 😉
Byron Thomas says
This risotto would brighten up anyone's day! It's so colourful and vibrant - I love it. It was very delicious too. I followed the recipe exactly, but I did leave out the shrimp. YUM!
Ramona says
Thank you so much dear Byron, I am so happy you liked the dish as much as we do.
Danielle says
I know, right? The time flies by so quickly! But it will be nice to slow the time down a bit with this delicious risotto. Pork and seafood combo never disappoints!
Ramona says
Oh yes, absolutely! Thank you Danielle 😉
Jenni LeBaron says
This is such a tremendous explosion of flavors! I love the mix of pork and seafood together to make this risotto particularly hearty!
Ramona says
So true, thanks so much dear Jenni 😉
Amanda says
This is such a great risotto dish! I love the combination of pork and seafood, and those vibrant colors make it perfect for company. Thanks for sharing!
Ramona says
Thank you so much Amanda, thank you for stopping by.
Jacqui Debono says
The colours of this dish are beautiful! I have been trying to get more turmeric into my diet too, what a lovely way to do it!
Ramona says
Thank you dear Jacqui, I will definitely turn yellow soon from using all the turmeric that I use 😉
Emily says
I love everything about this pork and seafood risotto- especially how bright yellow the turmeric makes the dish!
Ramona says
Thank you dear Emily 😉
Alexis says
The colors in this dish are amazing! I'll definitely be making this dish this week, my family is going to love it.
Ramona says
Thank you so much Alexis, I do hope you will enjoy this risotto when you will make it 😉
Jere Cassidy says
What a glorious looking dish. I have never heard of long pepper but will look for it next time Im' at our Asian food store that has everything.
Ramona says
Thank you Jere,
It is really nice - I am buying mine from a wholefoods shop 😉
Erika says
This is my kind of dish! So flavorful and I love the shrimp, yum!
Stine Mari says
This risotto looks amazing, so colorful and perfect to light up any dark day. Great tip on the toasting not toasting issue as well.