Holy Moly! Do you know how long it’s been since I posted a recipe on here? I’ll tell ya! Over two years!!! That’s right. My last food post was this soup recipe from September 11, 2013. Which is delicious, btw. If you’re in the mood for some amazing and easy potato soup, that is the recipe for you! I guess having two kids within two years put my recipe sharing on the back burner (no pun intended).
Anyway, on to this delicious recipe from Giada De Laurentiis. I first saw this recipe, which she calls Nonna Luna’s Rice, while watching her cooking show “Giada At Home” on the Food Network. I immediately knew that I wanted to try it, and I just so happened to have all the ingredients at home, so as soon as the episode was over, I made what can only be described as shrimp and lemon heaven. I think this is my favorite shrimp recipe to date, and I can’t wait to share it with you!
Side note: Since I was the only one eating this dish for lunch, I halved this recipe.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- 4oz (1 stick) butter, divided
- 2 cups long grain rice
- 3 1/2 cups chicken stock (or broth)
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 lbs medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1/2 cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
- 1 Tbsp hot sauce
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- salt & pepper (to taste)
Start by melting half of the butter in a non-stick saucepan over medium low heat.
Once the butter is completely melted, pour in the rice.
Shout out to The Pioneer Woman for these adorable measuring cups you’ll see me use throughout this post. If you want some of your own, head on over to your nearest Walmart, or you can find them HERE on their website.
Stir the butter into the rice and let it toast for a couple minutes. Make sure you stir it frequently so it doesn’t burn on the bottom.
Then, pour in the chicken stock. Refer to your the package your rice came in for the cooking instructions. But in case you don’t know how to make rice, or you don’t have the packaging anymore, I typically will bring the rice to a boil, then turn the heat down to low and cover the pot until the all the liquid is absorbed. This is for regular, long grain rice. NOT instant rice. I know that most (if not all) of you know how to make rice, but just in case there is a beginner out there, I wanted to be sure to make this as fool proof as possible.
While I was making this recipe, my boys were eating lunch, and when they saw me taking pictures, they started saying “CHEESE!!!!” So, of course, I had to take a couple pictures of them, too. 🙂 (Don’t mind the messy table. Just keeping it real!)
Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming…..
When your rice is about half way done cooking, start on the shrimp. I waited until my rice was half way done, because shrimp cooks SO fast, that if you have to wait for your rice to finish cooking, your shrimp will either be cold (if you removed it from the pan) or so tough and rubbery that it won’t be enjoyable. So do yourself a favor and wait until your rice has about 5-7 minutes left of cooking time.
Melt the rest of the butter in a non stick pan over medium heat, and throw your garlic clove in there. You could also mince your garlic, but I decided to just use the whole clove to infuse the garlic flavor into the butter without having pieces of garlic in the dish. Stir it around for 1-2 minutes, or until it starts to produce it’s wonderful aroma. You know what I’m talking about.
If you used the whole clove like me, you can remove it at this time.
Another shout out to The Pioneer Woman for this super cute skillet! Butterfly and all (it even has butterflies on the bottom of the pan)! And it just so happens to be in my favorite color — aqua! Here’s the link if you want one for yourself.
Add your shrimp to the garlic infused butter. Try to get them all in one layer for even cooking.
Add lemon juice….
And hot sauce, and stir around until the shrimp are cooked through and are opaque.
Turn off the heat and add the cream.
Stir around until totally combined and the cream is warmed through.
Spoon some rice into a bowl and top with the shrimp and sauce. Don’t skimp on the sauce. It’s divine!
How amazing does that look? And it tastes even better!
Don’t take my word for it. Try it today!!! And when you do, tell me how you like it!
*I am not affiliated with Walmart or The Pioneer Woman in any way. I just love her new cooking line, and wanted to show off my new cookware. Ha!
