If you are a risotto fan, then you will love this corn and crab risotto recipe made using a favorite local product of mine, middlins. Middlins are the small broken pieces of Carolina Gold Rice that get left behind during the hulling process. What's left are little grains of goodness that happen to be the perfect ingredient for making risotto.
This is a dish that celebrates the flavors of the Lowcountry--the area where I live in Charleston, South Carolina. In addition to the indigenous Carolina Gold Rice middlins, I fold in sweet and delicate lump blue crab meat, sweet corn, add a pop of color from tarragon, and a zing from lemon juice. It's like a giant hug in a bowl.
The great thing about this recipe is that it's delicious year-round. I especially enjoy it during cold winter months, when I'm craving something warm. But, it's also fantastic in the summertime when sweet corn is at its peak. And served with a chilled glass of Sauvignon Blanc, it's the perfect ending to a warm day.
Looking for another risotto recipe? You'll love this creamy pumpkin risotto, shrimp risotto recipe, or summer vegetable risotto.
Or, if you want more comfort food recipes for chilly weather, be sure to check out my recipes for Meat Lovers' Lasagna, Chicken Cobbler with Red Lobster Cheddar Biscuit Topping, Loaded Baked Potato Soup, Vegetable Hash and Sausage Stew, and Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sage Browned Butter Sauce.
If it's seafood you're after, you'll love my Easy Skillet Shrimp with Homemade Honey Garlic Sauce or this quick and easy crab pasta. Now, ready to get to the main event? Let's do it.
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Ingredients
Before we get started, let's gather the ingredients we need for this recipe.
- fresh crab meat
- Marsh Hen Mill Carolina Gold Middlins (or use arborio rice or other short-grain rice)
- vegetable or chicken stock
- fresh corn (or use frozen, thawed corn kernels)
- dry white wine
- fresh tarragon
- salted butter
- olive oil
- yellow onion
- garlic cloves
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- lemon juice
(See recipe card for quantities.)
Instructions
Now that we've got our ingredients, it's time to get cooking!
First, heat the stock in a medium saucepan until it's simmering.
Next, cook the onion in melted butter and olive oil until translucent. Stir in the garlic.
Then, add the middlins and stir until the grains are coated. Add the white wine and cook until the liquid is evaporated.
Finally, add the warm stock, a ladleful at a time and cook, stirring occasionally. Stir in the corn and last batch of stock. Cook until the rice is al dente. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed. Fold in the crab meat, tarragon, and lemon juice.
Hint: Don't be tempted to rush the cooking process. Take your time, and pour some of that extra wine in a glass to enjoy while you're cooking. You'll want to slowly add the stock, and stir occasionally instead of constantly. (Constantly stirring will add air and make the risotto gluey.)
Substitutions
Need to make some adjustments to this recipe? Here are a few suggestions:
- Crab meat - local blue crabs are available year-round here in Charleston, so that's what I've opted to use for this recipe. Feel free to substitute what's available from your local fishmonger. Dungeness crab, snow crab, king crab meat, and even imitation crab meat are all good alternatives, and grocery stores will most likely have containers of pasteurized crab meat if you're far from the coast. I like to use lump white crab meat because it's prettier, but the backfin brown crab meat is fine too and tastes just as delicious.
- Stock - for a more intense seafood flavor, use seafood stock, fish stock, or crab stock (if you've made your own or can find it in stores) instead of vegetable or chicken stock.
- Middlins - if you're not from my neck of the woods (the Lowcountry), you may be unfamiliar with this amazing product. Rice middlins are the broken and smaller pieces of rice leftover from when Carolina Gold Rice is hulled and processed. They're rich in flavor and are the perfect ingredient for making amazing risotto. Like arborio rice, they've got a high starch content. That being said, if you can only find arborio rice that works great too.
Variations
Here are some more ideas to change up this recipe:
- Spicy - add crushed red pepper flakes while cooking the onion and garlic to make this dish spicy.
- Super citrus - add lemon zest in addition to lemon juice for an extra lemony zing
- Seafood-tastic - add more of your favorite seafood to this delicious crab risotto. Add lobster meat and make it a crab and lobster risotto or add substitute cooked shrimp for shrimp risotto. Clams or mussels are also wonderful options too.
Equipment
Here's what you'll need to make this delicious crab risotto recipe:
- liquid measuring cup
- measuring spoons
- dry measuring cups
- medium saucepan
- large skillet or deep saute pan
- ladle
Storage
Store any leftover risotto in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. When reheating, you may need to add some extra liquid to loosen it up.
Leftovers for this risotto don't last well in the freezer.
Tasty tip
Warm stock instead of just out-of-the-carton cold stock is key to making a creamy risotto.
Frequently asked questions
So, unlike other rice dishes, you don't want to rinse the middlins (or other short-grain rice) before cooking. You want to keep all the starch on the rice grains. That's what gives risotto that delicious, silky smooth texture, and the starch helps to thicken it.
Aside from the using highest quality ingredients you can, I think cooking the risotto with salted stock or broth is crucial. The rice grains absorb the liquid as it cooks, so the flavor is locked in. It's much harder to adjust the seasoning after the rice has been cooked.
The great thing about this easy crab risotto is that it's an all-in-one dish. If you'd like to round out the meal with something green, I recommend serving a light green salad on the side to balance the richness of the dish.
Either will work but I find that stock is richer and adds a more robust flavor.
Choose a dry white wine like Sauvignon Blanc as opposed to a sweet wine like Reisling.
If you add cold stock to the warm risotto, it'll cool the whole dish down and mess up the cooking process.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Pairing
These are my favorite recipes to serve with this crab risotto:
🍽Get the recipe
Creamy Corn and Blue Crab Middlins Risotto
Equipment
- liquid measuring cup
- measuring spoons
- dry measuring cups
- medium saucepan
- large skillet or deep saute pan
- ladle
Ingredients
- 5 to 6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
- 2 tablespoon salted butter
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 ½ cups Marsh Hen Mill Carolina Gold Rice Middlins (or use arborio rice)
- ½ cup dry white wine
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cups fresh corn kernels (or use frozen, thawed)
- 1 pound fresh crab meat (I used lump blue crab)
- 2 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon, plus more for serving
- Lemon juice and lemon wedges for serving
Instructions
- Heat the stock in a medium saucepan and keep warm over medium heat.
- Melt the butter and olive oil in a large pan. Add the onion and cook over medium-high heat until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook 30 seconds or until fragrant.
- Add the middlins and stir until the grains are coated. Add the wine and cook until the liquid evaporates.
- Add a ladleful of stock at a time (about ½ cup of the warm stock), and cook until the liquid is absorbed. Continue the cooking process, adding a ladleful of hot stock at a time, until the rice is almost al dente and there's about a ladleful or two of stock left, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add the corn and the remaining stock and cook until the rice is al dente (it will have a slight bite to it but not be crunchy).
- Gently fold in the crab, tarragon, and a little lemon juice. Divide the risotto between shallow bowls and garnish with more tarragon. Serve with lemon wedges, if desired.
Recipe guidelines and test kitchen tips
When developing and testing recipes, here are some key things that I do for more success in the kitchen:
- Be sure to use dry measuring cups for things like flour, sugar, and mayonnaise and a liquid measuring cup for things like water, milk, and broth.
- When measuring dry ingredients like flour and powdered sugar that can pack down, spoon the ingredient into a dry measuring cup and level with a knife as opposed to scooping the measuring cup into the ingredient.
- I test and develop recipes using a standard electric oven and standard gas stovetop. Be aware that if you use an electric stovetop or convection oven, your bake times will be different.
- When recipes call for kosher salt, I use Diamond Crystal kosher salt.
Food safety
Finally, don't forget to keep these food safety tips in mind when making this recipe.
- Do not use the same utensils on cooked food that previously touched raw seafood/meat.
- Wash your hands after touching raw seafood/meat.
- Don't leave leftovers sitting out at room temperature for extended periods of time.
- Never leave cooking food unattended.
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove.
Adri says
I had to make a few substitutions following your advice: I used imitation crab (because crab is not that readily available where I live), and I used arborio rice. It turned out AMAZING. It's so creamy with just a touch of sweetness from the corn. I'll make it again and again for sure!
AshleyFreeman says
Yay! So glad it turned out with my substitution options 🙂