Whitefish and Scallops over Tomato Risotto

Looking for a great way to make seafood for dinner? This meal was simple but looked very elegant and tasted great! My dad said that he's paid a lot of money for food that was far inferior to this meal. I hope you agree! I served it with some spanikopita but have a few tweeks to make to that recipe before posting. Enjoy this one!

Whitefish and Scallops over Tomato Risotto
Serves 5-6 people

5-6 filets of white fish (I used vermillion and traggierfish but snapper or tilapia would be great)
About 20-25 small scallops
About 3 Tbls EVOO, plus 2 more
2 Tbls butter, plus 2 more
1 medium onion, diced
1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
5 handfuls arborio rice
2 small bottles dry white wine**
1 can petite diced tomatoes
3 C chicken broth
2 lemons
Salt and pepper
Garlic powder
Chives

To make risotto, start by heating 3 Tbls EVOO and 2 Tbls butter over medium heat. When hot, add onions and garlic cloves and saute until transluscent. Add arborio rice and saute until edges are transluscent, about 3-5 minutes. Add 1.5 small bottles white wine. Stir until liquid absorbs, about 5-7 minutes. Add can of tomatoes and again, stir until liguid absorbs. Continue adding chicken broth 1/2 to 1 cup at a time, waiting each time for liquid to absorb before adding more.

Meanwhile, rinse and pat dry fish adn scallops. Season filets and scallops with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Heat a large skillett over medium-high heat with remaining 2 Tbls EVOO. When hot, add fish filets and sear on both sides until cooked through, only turning once. After turning the filets to the second side, squeeze the juice on one lemon over all filets. Take filets out and set aside. Add scallops to hot pan and sear on both sides. When cooked about halfway through, add remaining wine (1/2 bottle), juice of half a lemon, and cook through. Remove from heat and add remaining 2 Tbls butter and allow to melt. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To plate, place risotto on plate or pasta bowl. Top with filet of fish. Add scallops to top with some of the liquid from the scallops. Garnish with chives and lemon slices from remaining half lemon.

**I always keep the small bottles of dry white wine that come in the four-pack on hand. I don't drink white wine much, especially not chardonnay but that's what I prefer to cook with. By using these, you don't have to open a whole bottle of wine when you just need a little bit. :-)

GFCF
Rice is gluten-free so this dish is gluten-free as is. Substitute olive oil for butter to make it dairy-free.