Seafood Risotto
Your choice of Seafood cooked with Italian Arborio Rice.
Simple and fast (~30 minutes) to prepare.
INGREDIENTS
- 150 gm Arborio rice (or other high starch short grain rice)
- 250 gm Raw seafood (see text)
- 100 ml Dry white wine
- 100 ml Strong fish stock (see text)
- A medium/large shallot - finely chopped
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 tsp Fennel seeds (or generous pinch Saffron, or both)
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- Boiling water
- Optional:- Garlic and/or smoked red/green pepper flakes
These quantities serve two people with average appetites or one with a mighty hunger.
Scale up as necessary for more people.
RAW SEAFOOD
The raw seafood may consist of skinned filleted fish (salmon, tuna, monkfish or w.h.y. - keep tuna separate from the rest of the seafood as it needs slightly less cooking time), shellfish (shelled shrimps or prawns, scallops, clams or mussels, or, for the more sporting who like undressing their food while eating it, you can include medium-sized prawns, clams or mussels in their shells - discount the weight of the shells when calculating quantities), cephalopods (squid or baby octopus) - or whatever mixture of all of these you fancy.
Everything should be as fresh as possible and cut into15-20 mm pieces (choose tiny baby octopus if you use them so that they don't need cutting up). The idea is that all the raw seafood will be added when the rice is cooked, the pot will be returned to the boil on a high heat, and by then all will be cooked - so the pieces must be quite small and reasonably uniform in size, and any prawns, clams or mussels in their shells must be small enough that they will be cooked by this time too. [Usual bivalve shellfish rules apply here:- fresh; slightly open if left in a cool damp place and close when the shell is tapped.]
STRONG FISH STOCK
The strong fish stock will usually consist of a fish stock cube dissolved in 100 ml boiling water, but you may have time and the ingredients to make your own by simmering the skin, bones (and head if you've got it) of your fish, and your prawn shells, in a little (~150 ml) water for half an hour or so and straining through a fine tea strainer. Add half a fish stock cube and taste - you may need a little more salt or you may not, add it if you do. Such home-made fish stock can be made in advance and will keep deep-frozen for 6-8 weeks.
PREPARATION
Sauté the chopped shallots (and garlic if used) in the olive oil until they just start to brown. Add the fennel seeds and the rice and cook dry, stirring continuously, for 30-60 seconds. Add the wine, stock, pepper and, if used, the saffron and/or pepper flakes, and bring to the boil.
Simmer on very low heat stirring continually (i.e. stir thoroughly for 10 seconds or so every couple of minutes). Add more boiling water cautiously as necessary to keep everything wet but not too sloppy. After about ten minutes taste a few grains of the rice to see if it is cooked - it should not be crunchy, but it may or may not have a little hardness ("al dente") - this is a matter of taste. When the rice is cooked to your taste (usually 12-16 minutes - if it is still crunchy it needs a little more water and a little more cooking) add the seafood (except tuna) and turn up the heat to bring the pot back to the boil, stirring continuously. When it boils turn off the heat, add any tuna, stir, wait 30 seconds (that's all the cooking time the tuna needs), and serve.
This is a recipe page on the James Bryant (G4CLF) Web-site.
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