Truffle Risotto with Scallops & Roasted Tomatoes

Made with Cheddar Gouda Truffle cheese, scallops that have been seared to perfection and served with roasted tomatoes... This Truffle Risotto is a dish that combines creamy, earthy risotto with delicately seared scallops and sweet, juicy roasted tomatoes.

Jump to:

• 🛒 Ingredients
• 🔪 Prep Work
• 📖 Cooking Instructions
• ⏲ Timing
• 🍽 Serving
• 🤔 Frequently Asked Questions
• 📖 Recipe

I wanted to dismiss some misconceptions you may have right out of the gate... Pan-searing scallops may seem like something to leave to professionals, but I promise you you're overthinking it.

Risotto may be something you shy away from because you've always heard stories or watched movies where chefs complain about it. That has nothing to do with it being hard to make, it all has to do with the time and attention it takes. Roasting tomatoes required a knife, oven, oil, and some spices. 

Long story short, you CAN make this dish! Let me show you, step by step, how to make a show-stopping dinner that would cost easily 3-4 times as much out at a restaurant. 

Jump to:

• 🛒 Ingredients
• 🔪 Prep Work
• 📖 Cooking Instructions
• ⏲ Timing
• 🍽 Serving
• 🤔 Frequently Asked Questions
• 📖 Recipe

🛒 Ingredients

• Truffle Gruyere Cheese - grated
• Butter
• Shallots - or garlic minced
• Dry White Wine - Ex: Pinot Grigio
• Arborio Rice (risotto rice)
• Chicken Stock
• Sea Scallops
• Fresh Rosemary 
• Fresh Thyme
• Roma Tomatoes
• Olive Oil
• Kosher Salt
• Fresh Ground Pepper

🔪 Prep Work

Preparation is key to this recipe! Below I have a full timetable of how to absolutely slay this recipe, but it starts here. Get these steps done before you ever start cooking...

• Shread the Truffle Cheese
• Clean your Scallops (remove the abductor, rinse, and lay on paper towels)
• Get your tomatoes completely ready to put in the oven. 
• Get your Chicken Stock in a pot on the stove. 

💧Cleaning Your Scallops

When prepping your scallops, you will notice a small muscle hanging onto the side of the scallop. It's called the adductor muscle. While it is absolutely edible, I highly recommend removing it. It peels off very easily with no special tools required. Here are the top 3 reasons I like to remove them... 

Reason #1 - The adductor muscle is the muscle that holds the scallop to the shell making it tougher than the rest of the scallop.

Reason #2 - Scallops hang out in the sand. That sand likes to sneak into the space between the adductor muscle and the main muscle. If you don't remove it, you risk taking a gritty bite of the scallop. 

Reason #3 - Aesthetically, you are left with a perfectly cylindrical scallop. This last one is just me being extra... sorry not sorry. 

After removing the adductor muscle I like to give my scallops a quick rinse in cold water. Just to remove any additional sand that may be lingering. 

Drying Scallops

Laying out your scallops on a paper towel, and then covering them with another paper towel is Step 1 in how I achieve that restaurant-quality crust.

If your scallops have retained too much moisture, from either being frozen, sitting in their own juices, or on ice, they will let go of all that moisture as soon as they hit the pan. Basically steaming them instead of searing them. 

I generally let my scallops dry either in the fridge for a few hours, or on the counter for at least 30 minutes.

📖 Cooking Instructions

🔥 Oven Roasted Tomatoes

Giving this dish a bright pop of color and flavor, oven-roasted tomatoes are an easy way to accomplish both. Olive oil, dried herbs, and fresh Roma tomatoes are all you need to level this dish up and make it look like a million bucks. I recommend Roma tomatoes that have been quartered, but cherry tomatoes would also work just fine! 

Once your tomatoes are quartered simply toss them in your fresh herbs, and olive oil, and season with kosher salt & fresh ground pepper. Place them on a baking sheet and set them to the side.

You'll toss them in a 350-degree oven for about 30 minutes, or right when you start stirring your risotto and everything should be done at the same time! If you find your tomatoes done early, just turn off the oven and let them hang out until you are ready to plate! 

👩🏼‍🍳 Risotto

Let's get started! In a small pot, warm your chicken stock until it's barely simmering. We will need it warm & ready to go shortly.

In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat and add the shallots or garlic. Sauteing for 1-2 minutes or until it smells amazing but doesn't brown. Then add your wine (carefully) and let reduce slightly.

Next, add the arborio rice and stir, coating each piece in our delicious butter, shallot wine mixture. Slowly, ½ cup at a time, start adding your chicken stock. Stirring constantly until it's absorbed.

After adding 3ish of the 4 cups of stock, taste your risotto to check for doneness. If your rice is still slightly hard, add the remaining chicken stock until it's tender.

Finally, add your shredded truffle cheese and mix until melted. Taste, and add kosher salt & fresh ground pepper to taste.

Scallops

I recommend a heavy bottom pan like a cast iron or stainless steel saute pan for searing your scallops. Getting the pan piping hot and keeping the pan piping hot is mission-critical!

For the nerds out there think about it in terms of thermal mass. If you add something cold to something hot the temperature will drop. We don't want that to happen! 

Start by adding olive oil to your pan to completely coat the bottom. Then, season your scallops with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper and immediately move them to the pan, placing them at least 1" apart in every direction.  

Cook for around 1 minute or until a golden crust has formed, then turn over. Once flipped, let cook for 1 minute, and then add your butter and fresh thyme stems if desired. Turn off the pan and use a simple kitchen spoon, to baste the scallops in the melted butter.

If you don't get an angry-sounding sizzle when you add your scallops to the pan, it isn't hot enough. 

⏲ Timing

When making a recipe with different components (scallops, risotto, & tomatoes) a big key to success is timing. You don't have 8 hands, and you don't want your scallops done before you even start your risotto. I have created a timetable below to help you execute this recipe flawlessly...

Preparation is Key

• Shread the Truffle Cheese
• Clean your Scallops (remove the abductor, rinse, and lay on paper towels)
• Get your tomatoes completely ready to put in the oven. 
• Get your Chicken Stock in a pot on the stove. 

Getting Started Cooking

• Put your tomatoes in the oven. 
• Start on your risotto. 
• Snack on cheese 😉 

Finishing Strong

• When your risotto is on its very last cup of stock being added, start your scallops.
• Your tomatoes should be coming out of the oven right about now.
• Taste your risotto & make sure it's tender. If not, add another cup of stock (or water if you've run out). 

🍽 Serving

Keep in mind that the risotto will start to firm up if left to sit too long. You can always add a little more stock or water to resolve that. Try your hardest for the scallops to be the last thing done. They will cool quickly and nobody wants cold scallops.

We served our truffle risotto family style in one large bowl that everyone could serve themselves out of. If you'd like to plate individually you obviously can.

Make a bed of risotto, nest your scallops on top, and garnish around your plate with the roasted tomatoes and drizzle with any remaining oil in the bottom of the tomato tray, and any remaining fresh thyme, rosemary, or basil you may have.

🤔 Frequently Asked Questions

Aren't Truffles Expensive?

Truffles are expensive, yes! Lucky for us, the world has found inexpensive ways to provide us with big truffle flavors without the big price tag. We used a Truffle Cheddar Gruyere we found at our local grocery store. This provided all the truffle flavor we needed while providing an exceptional creamy cheesy level to our risotto. 

We used about half of this package, around 4 oz, and snacked on the rest while making dinner. The cost of the Truffle Cheddar was $10, which is pretty pricy for a block of cheese, but goodness is it yummy. 

What if I Can't Find Truffle Cheese?

Don't despair! Stick with using a mild cheddar or gruyere and then add 1-2 teaspoon of truffle oil when finishing your risotto. Start slow, and taste until it's just the way you like it. 

Previously Frozen vs Fresh Scallops?

I can almost guarantee you 98% or more of the scallops you see at the grocery store were previously frozen. Scallops don't have a long shelf life in the fridge, so they are generally Individually Quick Frozen (IQF) to preserve freshness. If you are lucky enough to live near the coast, try to find them fresh.

That leaves you with two options: Buying them at the meat counter or buying them from the frozen section. Both require laying them out on a paper towel-lined plate and then covering them with a second paper towel. If you are going from frozen, put them back in the fridge for a few hours until they have thawed. 

Already thawed? Same steps, except you, can skip the fridge and just leave them out on the counter while you're finished prepping. 

Sea Scallops vs Bay Scallops?

Sea scallops are significantly larger than bay scallops. That's an easy one to remember as a Bay is much smaller than the Sea. For this recipe, we are using Sea scallops. The smaller size of the bay scallops makes them much harder to get a good sear on & are easier to overcook. Nobody wants overcooked scallops... 

What is Risotto?

Risotto is a type of rice that gets more & more creamy the more you stir it. The addition of cheese adds to the luxuriousness. It has more bite than oatmeal or grits. I like to think of risotto as a very creamy tender rice. 

Making it the perfect vessel for creamy cheeses to melt into.

📖 Recipe