Moreton Bay Bug Risotto

My housemate Caitlin won't eat risotto or shellfish. The shellfish I understand - everyone has their weird food hang ups. I didn't eat seafood for the first three quarters of my life. I have also always found mushrooms entirely unappealing if not utterly repulsive on their own. The closest I've come to actually liking them were some wild Chanterelles I picked once,  but it doesn't really count because I sauteed them in butter and put them on top of fettucine aglio e olio. The dirt they grew in probably would have tasted good.

Back to Caitlin, it might just be prawns and not all shellfish that she doesn't like. Not that it really matters, as she's sworn off risotto anyway. To this end I'm convinced she just had a terrible risotto once and it left her scarred. Like drinking several glasses of warm vodka at your friend's birthday party when you were 16 and not being able to even think about the stuff again for a long time...

Yeah.

But I mostly got over that so I'm also convinced that I can change her mind one day. So far she's avoided my attempts. Regardless, when she's out the rest of us will often eat seafood risotto. I decided to get a bit fancier this time and shell out (HA!) for some Moreton Bay Bugs.

I didn't want to use a fish stock for the risotto because it would overwhelm the delicate flavour of the bug meat. Instead I let some of the split bug shells infuse into a vegetable stock while it came up to temperature. It added just enough saveur de la mer while still taking a back seat to the rest of the dish.

In hindsight I should have used more bugs but they're stupid expensive and they yield maybe one third (if you're lucky) of the weight you pay for in cooked meat. Happily there was use for the shells in the infused stock and the plating. I also totally forgot to monter au beurre at the end, which is why it's not nice and glossy in the photo like it should be. It was nowhere near as dry or stiff as it looks. Speaking of the photo, I need to learn to take better ones. If anyone has any food photography tips, especially concerning composition, I'm all ears.