Seafood risotto

To cheer up a murky Monday, try this comforting risotto. Risotto is a versatile Italian dish that isn’t as difficult as you may think and makes a great standby entertaining recipe for when friends drop by.

Ingredients

450g/1lb prawns, shell on
36 small mussels

Any other seafood could be substituted for Monkfish and Squid such as firm white fish

100g/4oz monkfish fillet, thinly sliced
50g/2oz squid, cleaned and thinly sliced

For the stock
25ml/1fl oz olive oil
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 celery stick, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 small leek, chopped
¼ red chilli, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1/8 tsp saffron
900ml/1½pt fish stock
cooking liquor from the mussels

For the risotto
50g/2oz unsalted butter
2 shallots, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
350g/12oz risotto rice e.g. Arborio
120ml/4fl oz dry white wine
25g/1oz parmesan
1 tbsp olive oil

Method

Peel the prawns, reserving the shells for the stock. Set the prawns aside until needed. Wash the mussels, scrape them clean and pull out the beards. Open by placing in a pan with a splash of water, cover tightly then set over a high heat until they have opened. Strain through a colander to remove any grit. Save the liquor for the stock. Remove the meats from all but 8 of the shells, discard the empty shells. Leaving a few whole mussels in the risotto makes it look very appetizing. Set the mussels aside until needed.

To make the stock, heat the oil in a large pan and add the garlic, carrot, celery, onion, leek and chilli. Fry for 5 minutes without colouring. Add the reserved prawn shells and cook for another couple of minutes then add the tomato, saffron, fish stock and mussel liquor. Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes then push through a conical sieve with the back of a ladle to extract as much flavour as possible.

To make the risotto, melt the butter in a heavy-based pan (this will lessen the chance of the risotto burning on the bottom as it cooks) then add the shallots and garlic and sweat until softened. Add the rice and stir for a couple of minutes until well-coated with butter. Pour in the wine. Bring to the boil then remove from the heat and let the rice absorb all the liquid. You can make the risotto to this stage some time before completing the dish. The final cooking time, about 20 minutes, is reduced to about 10 by doing this.

Return the pan to a medium heat and add the shellfish stock to the rice in three stages, allowing the liquid to be absorbed each time before adding the next amount. Stir continuously until the stock is almost completely absorbed.

When the rice is just tender but still firm to the bite (al dente), add the parmesan. (The small amount of stock left at this stage will be absorbed by the cheese.) While the risotto is cooking, brush the rest of the seafood with olive oil and grill for 3-4 minutes. To serve, carefully mix the seafood including the mussels into the risotto. Leave a few pieces on top to garnish.