This no-stir oven baked risotto with grilled lobster is pure decadence!! Can’t decide where to go out to dinner for Valentine’s Day? How about spending V-day at home dining on the best and easiest oven baked risotto with grilled lobster tails? Um, yes please! Seriously, this is an all-star dinner and you don’t even have to leave your house. I don’t know about you but our life is so chaotic and busy that a date night IN is something to get excited about. Probably showing my age here but it is what it is….I’m getting old and I’m okay with it.
I love risotto but I rarely ever make it because I hate standing over the stove for an hour constantly stirring. There are about 100 other things I’d rather be doing than stirring risotto for an hour. I have a hunch that I’m not in the minority with this. Everything changed when we recently discovered that you can add chicken stock to Arborio rice and pop it in the oven for 45 minutes….no stirring required. Say what?? Yeah, we almost peed our pants too, it’s pretty epic. Major game changer in the risotto department.
When your oven starts dinging at you after 45 minutes, just remove the risotto, add a little more chicken stock, wine, cheese, a touch of cream and some S&P. That is seriously it…no fuss risotto just like that. We thought since it’s almost Valentine’s Day we should not only make life changing no-stir risotto, but also kick it up a major notch with grilled lobster tails. Just when you thought this dinner couldn’t get much better it just did.
Have you ever grilled lobster tails? If not, it might seem intimidating but it’s actually a cinch. Just use a sharp knife or kitchen shears to cut the back of the lobster tail shell down the center. Brush the flesh with some olive oil and season with S&P. Grill flesh side down for 5 minutes, flip it over and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Think you can handle that? See, I told you it was easy.
It’s all about timing, so 10 minutes before the risotto is ready to be taken out of the oven is when you want to start grilling your lobster tails. The lobster will be done a minute or two before the risotto. When the risotto comes out of the oven you will quickly finish it off and then remove the lobster meat from the shells. Plate up the risotto and top it with the perfectly grilled lobster meat and just like that you will be enjoying one of the most delish dinners EVER!
Surprise your sweetheart or make it a family affair and whip this up for your entire crew this NYE. You will score major points with this meal
- 1½ C Arborio rice
- 5 C chicken stock
- ½ C dry white wine
- 1 C quattro formaggio cheese blend or pecorino romano cheese
- ¼ C heavy cream
- 1 tap kosher salt
- 1 tsp cracked pepper
- 2 lobster tails
- good quality olive oil
- S&P
- 1 Tbsp chopped fresh chives
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use a large ovenproof dutch oven, add Arborio rice and 4 C of chicken broth. Place the lid on the pot and bake for 45 minutes.
- While the risotto is baking, begin to prep the lobster tails. Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Use kitchen shears or a sharp knife to cut lobster tails down the middle of shell to butterfly. Brush the flesh with olive oil and generously sprinkle with S&P. During the last 10 minutes that the risotto is cooking begin grilling the lobster tails. Place the lobster flesh side down on the grill, about 5 minutes until the shells are bright in color. Flip over and grill for another 4 minutes until lobster meat is an opaque white color - do not over cook! Remove lobsters from the grill and set aside.
- Remove risotto from oven. Add remaining 1 C chicken broth, wine, cheese, cream and S&P. Stir until incorporated.
- Transfer risotto to individual bowls, top with lobster and garnish with chives, serve immediately.
Kim Cheever says
Thanks You guys! I was just thinking the same thing. This looks amazing and I’m going to make it for our Valentines Day too!
Kari & Courtney says
Awesome, let us know how you like it!!