Grilled Salmon with Lemon Risotto topped with Creamy Prawn Sauce

Today is the first Sunday of September, a special day for us Australians because we are celebrating Father's Day. Interestingly, Father's Day was not started to show the children's love to their fathers but only to complement Mother's day which was widely celebrated to honour motherhood. Personally, I feel that fathers and mothers should be honoured and thanked for all the sacrifices they do for their children and grandchildren everyday day of their lives, until they part from us.

But who are we to blame the chance for a celebration. Most of you may have already planned for a great day; but there could be a handful of you still looking out for something to surprise the special person in your life. What about cooking something for him? If he loves seafood and happy to go Italian, here is a recipe for you - Pan Grilled Salmon with Lemon Risotto served with a Creamy Sauce of Prawns and Sun-dried Tomato.

Considering what you put on the plate, the amount of time required to prepare this dish is considerate. Just work in parallel on all the dishes and it should be ready in no time. Remember to grill the fish just a little before plating. This will save the fish from drying out.

Here goes the scrumptious fresh meal. straight from the pot to the plate.

Note:
There are three components to the dish. It is advisable to work on the three components in parallel to save on time. Start by cooking the risotto and while the rice is being cooked, work on the creamy prawn sauce. However, if you are not confident start with the creamy prawn sauce and once this is done, prepare risotto. In both cases grill fish just a few minutes before serving. This is in order to prevent the fish from drying out. You will also have to rest fish for at least two minutes before serving. This will let the fish to be completely done on the insides without losing any moisture.

The recipe is an adaptation of a show I once watched in SBS.

Serves: 4
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hr (work on three components at the same time)

Lemon and Herb Risotto

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup Arborio rice
• 3 - 4 cups of chicken stock
• 1 small brown onion, finely chopped
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1/4 cup of fresh herbs (chives, parsley), chopped
• 3 tbsp Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• lemon zest, from half a lemon
• pepper powder, freshly ground, to taste
• baby spinach, a handful
• 1 bunch brocollini, steamed and roughly chopped
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil 

Method
1. Place chicken stock in a saucepan and bring to boil. Then reduce flame and simmer.
2. In the meantime take another saucepan and heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and salt, cook stirring occasionally, until softened. Add rice and stir for 1 minute. The rice should be become translucent and have a white spot in the middle of each grain. Add wine and bring to boil, stirring continuously until all the wine is absorbed. Now add 1 cup of the hot chicken stock and simmer gently. Stir occasionally and cook until all the stock is absorbed. Add stock by 1/2 cups every few minutes until the rice is cooked through. This should take around 20 minutes after the wine was added. Add fresh herbs and spinach and cook for 1 minute. Then add brocollini, parmesan cheese, lemon zest and pepper.

Serve immediately.

Creamy Prawn and Sun-dried Tomato Sauce

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 16 tiger prawn, shelled, deveined and roughly chopped
• 100g smoked salmon, thinly sliced
• 1 cup shallots, finely chopped
• 4-5 pieces of sun-dried tomato, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1/2 milk
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• pepper, to taste
• smoked paprika, to taste

 Method
1. Cook prawns until just done and keep aside. In a deep pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add shallots and stir until it starts to change colour. Add sun-dried tomato and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add smoked salmon and keep stirring until it changes colour. Add prawns, pepper and smoked paprika and mix well. Add cream and milk and stir through. If the sauce is too thick, you may add some water or milk to dilute it.

This sauce may be prepared ahead of time. Just heat on stove-top until heated through before serving.

Grilled Salmon

Cooking Time: around 10 minutes
Note
Instructions here are only a baseline. The time may vary depending on the pan used. You may want to try grilling your fish first to determine the exact cooking times. Following the times below, fish will be well done, but not dry and rubbery. You will have to reduce the cooking time if you like your fish medium or rare.

Ingredients

• 4 x 175g salmon fillets, skin on
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Olive oil spray

Method

1. Heat a grill pan to medium. Season fish with salt and pepper. Spray oil onto pan. Cook fish skin side down for 5 - 6 minutes until skin is crisp. Turn and cook for 3 - 4 minutes. Remove from flame and rest for 2 minutes before serving. Fish will continue to cook on the inside once removed from flame. This will ensure a moist, juicy and flaky salmon fillets.(Cooking time may vary depending on the pan and heat used. Work around to find the best times.)

Plate Up

1. Divide risotto into four serving plates.
2. Place grilled salmon, skin-side up.
3. Top with creamy prawn sauce.
Serve immediately.