Creamy Prosecco risotto rice with seared scallops
Prosecco risotto with scallops is a creamy Italian seafood dish made with 375g Arborio rice, 170ml Prosecco, 2 litres of homemade fish stock and 8 hand-dived scallops. This recipe by Martin Seymour of The Mayfair Foodie serves 4 and takes approximately 20 minutes to cook. The Prosecco is added after the rice is lightly toasted, allowing the alcohol to evaporate and leave a delicate flavour in the rice. The scallops are seared separately in a hot pan with butter for 2–3 minutes per side until golden, then placed on top to serve. The risotto is finished using the classic Italian mantecatura technique — cold butter beaten in off the heat and the pan shaken vigorously to create a silky, wave-like texture. Adapted from Giorgio Locatelli’s Made in Italy cookbook, with Martin’s own twist of pan-fried rather than raw scallops. Store leftover risotto in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Updated April 2026
Why Giorgio Locatelli’s Cookbook Had Me Reaching for the Prosecco
I borrowed this recipe from my favourite Italian cookbook, Made in Italy by Giorgio Locatelli. I just had to share it, and of course, I’ve added my own little twist. There’s something about Prosecco Risotto that draws you in, so I had to make it. Yes, it’s essentially the same risotto recipe, but with the addition of Prosecco, fish stock, and lemon juice, it takes it to another level.
My twist is that I cooked the scallops separately in a pan, then added diced scallops during the cooking process, with thin slices of raw scallops placed on top when serving. The idea is that the thin slices of scallops cook with the heat of the rice. I’ve tried Locatelli’s version, but I preferred the pan-fried scallops; however, it comes down to personal taste, and his version is worth trying.
I make no apologies for adding another risotto recipe to my website; the fluffy grains of rice soak up all the delicious stock and are so moreish, making a perfect base for many fabulous ingredients.
As I always say, to make a good risotto, you need a good stock to start with. For this recipe, I made my own stock using cod, prawns, and scallop roe. It takes a bit of time, but it is well worth it. Then, the finishing process, called mantecatura, is a classic way to finish the risotto, giving it its creamy texture.
Finally, a couple of quick tips;
- Cut the onion and celery as fine as possible, aim to get them about the size of the grain of rice
- Make sure the butter is cold when adding at the end
Other risotto recipes you might like to try
Prosecco Risotto
Print RecipeIngredients
- 375g of Arborio rice
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 1 stick of Celery finely chopped
- Juice of half a lemon
- extra virgin olive oil
- 2 litres of fish stock
- 170ml Prosecco
- For the Mantecatura, 75g of cold butter
- 8 x Scallops (hand dived if possible)
- A knob or 2 of butter
Instructions
Start by peeling and finely chopping the onion, and the celery.
In a pan, heat the oil and one small knob of butter over low heat; add the onions, and celery, and fry gently for about 5 minutes or until softened but not coloured over a medium heat.
Add the rice and turn up the heat – the rice will begin to fry lightly, so keep stirring it. After 1 minute, it will look slightly translucent. Add the prosecco wine; keep going — it will smell fantastic. Any harsh alcohol flavours will evaporate, leaving the rice with a tasty essence of Prosecco.
Once the prosecco has cooked into the rice, add your first ladle of hot stock and a good pinch of sea salt. Turn the heat down to a simmer so the rice doesn’t cook too quickly on the outside.
Keep adding ladlefuls of stock, stirring and almost massaging the creamy starch out of the rice, allowing each ladleful to be absorbed before adding the next. This will take around 15 minutes. Taste the rice — is it cooked? Add stock until the rice is soft but with a slight bite. Don’t forget to check the seasoning carefully. Add boiling water if you run out of stock before the rice is cooked.
Remove the pan from the heat and leave for one minute, add the cold butter and gently beat into the rice, shake the pan energetically for a minute or so with the lid of the pan on, so the rice is rippling like waves.. As we mentioned earlier, this is the final but essential part of the process. This is the mantecatura phase, and most Italians will tell you this is the most important part of the process.
Drizzle with a splash of prosecco and the lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper
Cooking the scallops. Place the scallops on a dish and dry with kitchen roll. It’s important to make sure the scallops are dry so they will sear.
Rub a little oil on the top surface of each scallop and season well with salt and pepper. Heat your frying pan and when hot, place each scallop oil side down in the pan. Leave for 2-3 minutes until each scallop has a nice sear, and turn over. At this stage add two knobs of butter to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes basting the scallops with the butter.
At this point, they should have a nice colour and be ready to serve.
To serve, place the scallops on top of the prosecco risotto.
