Risotto crémeux aux langoustines et sa petite sauce toute douce...
langoustine = Norway lobster, according to my french-english dictionnary...
from the book "Équilibre et Gourmandise", Demarle
Prep 30 minutes
Cook 35 minutes
For 6 :
30 whole raw langoustines (thawed if frozen)
1 tbsp olive oil
salt, pepper
a few coriander/cilantro leaves or finely cut chives
For the sauce :
4 tbsp olive oil
1 bouquet garni ( 1 bay leaf, 5 sprigs of thyme, 10 sprigs of parsley )
2 tsp curry powder
1 quart fish stock
1 1/4 cup (approx 300ml) heavy cream
salt, pepper to taste
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp corn starch (if using)
For the risotto :
1 white onion
7 tbsp olive oil
500g risotto rice (arborio)
3/4 cup (approx 200ml) white wine
6 cups fish stock
3/4 cup (approx 200g) crème fraîche (you may use sour cream)
First step : the sauce.
Shell and devein the langoustines, set the tails aside. Place the heads, legs and shells on a wooden plank and crush them with the bottom of a heavy pan.
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan on high, sauté the crushed heads and shells, stirring all the time, they must not brown.
Add the bouquet garni and the 2 tsp curry powder, stir, then add the stock, bring to the boil, then simmer on med-low for 20 minutes.
Pass the sauce through a fine sieve , pressing hard with a wooden spoon to collect all the wonderful tastes into another saucepan. Heat the clear langoustine stock, add the cream and simmer 10 more minutes. If the sauce doesn't look thick enough to you, then add the corn starch mixed with 1 tsp cold water.
Add salt and fresly ground pepper to taste, then add the remaining tsp curry powder.
Set aside.
Meanwhile, start the risotto.
Finely chop the onion
Reheat the fish stock
Heat olive oil in a large heavy-bottom saucepan and add the onion, strirring until softnened, then the rice, stirring constantly until each grain is coated with oil.
Add the wine and stir until almost completely evaporated
Then add a ladle of stock and stir until completely absorbed. Go on adding stock ladle by ladle and stirring , until the rice is tender but still firm and he mixture is creamy, about 20 minutes for arborio rice.
Remove from heat, add the crème fraîche (or sour cream if crème fraîche is not available), stir, put a lid on and set aside.
You're almost done...
Time now to cook the langoustine tails.
If the "sweetly curried sauce" is not hot enough, gently reheat it.
Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick pan on your highest setting, throw in the tails and sauté until they change color, about 2 minutes only! Remove from heat, add salt and pepper to taste.
Carefully and artfully place the risotto in the center of each plate. Then place 5 sautées langoustine tails on top of the rice.
When the sauce is very hot, whisk it very quickly to incorporate as much air as possible, either in a blender or with a hand-mixer, the kind you would use with a soup, diving it into the hot liquid. You want to make it foamy, even if the foam won't hold.
Pour the sauce around this island...
Top with a few coriander/cilantro leaves, or very thinly cut chives.
