Shrimp and pea risotto

I adore risottos. I didn't learn to make them until two years ago, because I'd always supposed they were incredibly difficult and high-maintenance. It turns out they're really neither.

Ingredients:
1 cup arborio rice
2 tablespoons oil or butter
1 shallot or half an onion, chopped medium
1/2 cup white wine (you can use the nastiest, cheapest plonk you can find--you can't taste it at all but you need it for activating the starch or something, I'm told)
4 cups chicken broth (homemade or bought, but if you buy it, get the low-sodium kind)
salt and pepper
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (asiago is also good, and is often considerably cheaper)
A further teaspoon oil
1/2 lb shrimp meat
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder or 1 minced garlic clove (optional if you don't like garlic)
1 cup frozen peas

First, heat your chicken broth in a medium pot, and keep it warm.

In a medium heavy-bottomed pot, cook the onion in the oil or butter with a pinch of salt and pepper over medium heat until the onion is softened, 4-5 minutes. Add the rice, and cook, stirring, until the grains are well coated in oil, 1-2 minutes.

Add the wine and cook, stirring, until all liquid has evaporated, 1-2 minutes.

Now ladle in about a cup of stock, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is completely absorbed. Repeat the process, one ladleful at a time, until the rice is cooked and all the liquid is used up. The total cooking time will be about 25 minutes. Stir in the parmesan.

Right at the end, heat a small non-stick frying pan over high heat. Cook the shrimp and garlic or garlic powder with a pinch of salt and pepper until the shrimp is pink and warmed through. Stir the shrimp mixture into the risotto and add the frozen peas (they will thaw and cook in the risotto, no need to do anything to them). Serves 2 hungry adults and one hungry toddler.