Saffron risotto with scampi and Nantua sauce paired with Kwak

For the risotto

Stew the chopped shallots in the butter, add the rice and saffron and stir.

Add white wine and bring to a boil. Pour 1/10 of the mixture over the rice and let evaporate, continue stirring. Repeat this until all broth is used.

It is also possible to pour the broth into the rice all at once while stirring and then let cook gently with the lid on the pan. Risotto purists do not all agree with this second cooking method, which is however by far the simplest. Whichever solution is adopted, the rice should simmer for 25 minutes at low heat before being cooked.

For the Nantua sauce

Remove the heads of the scampi, shell the tails and remove the digestive tract.
Brown the heads for a few minutes in a spoonful of olive oil.Add the tomato puree and fish stock and simmer for 20 minutes over low heat. Sieve the stock.

Let thicken to half its volume with the cream.
Dilute a teaspoon of corn starch in 2 tablespoons of water. Then thicken the broth with the diluted corn starch or a teaspoon of roux.

Salt the Nantua sauce and add a touch of Cayenne pepper.

For 4 people

2 shallots, peeled, sliced
25 g of butter
100 g of rice for risotto
1 bag or a small glass jar of saffron threads
4 dl of chicken broth
3 tbsp of dry white wine
2 tbsp of mascarpone cheese
2 tbsp of ground Parmesan cheese
1 big (or 4 small) Kougl of pan
Nantua sauce
20 medium-sized fresh scampi
olive oil
1 tbsp of tomato purée
½ l of fish stock
1 dl of cream
1 tbsp of roux or corn starch
salt
Cayenne pepper

Serve

When the risotto is cooked, mix in the mascarpone cheese and the parmesan cheese.

Grease the Kouglof pan (or four small Kouglof pans) with some olive oil. Fill it (them) with the risotto and press firmly with a spoon. Turn the pan(s) over warm plates.

Arrange the scampi tails at the centre of the crown. Cover with a few tablespoons of sauce. Pour the rest of the sauce around the rice.