Seafood risotto

I love making risotto and I usually make it Sunday night to use up vegies from the fridge. I put on some good music pour myself a glass of wine and get lost in the moment whilst stirring and caring for this dish. There are a few tips to make your risotto creamy and tender every time. Enjoy!

• use short-grained round or semi-round rice; among the best rices for making risotti are Arborio, Vialone Nano, and Carnaroli.
• never wash the rice as this will wash off the starch that gives it a creamy consistency.
• Use gently simmering stock, adding cold stock lowers the temperature of the rice which can make your risotto gluey.
• Before you add your stock, make sure you coat the rice in the oil and cook until the grains appear glassy.
• Don’t let the rice burn at this stage otherwise the starch won’t release and you end up with a playdoh/glug consistency.
• Never add the stock all at once, add the stock one ladleful at a time as this method releases the starch from the rice giving you a creamy risotto.
• Risotto likes TLC so never leave it bubbling away on its own, stir with love.

Seafood Risotto

serves 4

1 cup dry white wine

500g black mussels, cleaned

1.25L home made fish stock (recipe on FISHline)

pinch saffron threads

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

500g prawns, peeled deveined and leaving tails in tact

2 squid, cleaned and cut into rings

1 brown onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 cups arborio rice

1 400gm can crushed Italian tomatoes

2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves

2 tablespoons cfinely chopped chives

Pour the wine in a large pan over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer, then add mussels and cover. Cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until almost all shells have opened. Strain, reserving liquid, then remove mussels from shells and set aside. Place reserved liquid, fish stock and saffron in a pan, bring to the boil, reduce heat and keep at a simmer over low heat.

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter with 1 tablespoon oil in a large, heavy-based frypan over medium heat. Add prawns and cook for 2-3 minutes, turning, until cooked through. Remove to a bowl and set aside. Increase heat to high. Add the squid and cook turning, for a couple of minutes or until just opaque (creamy milky colour) and almost cooked through. Set aside with prawns.

Reduce heat to medium and melt remaining  butter with remaining oil. Cook the onion and garlic stirring, for 2-3 minutes until softened. Add the rice and stir for 1-2 minutes to coat the grains. Increase heat to medium-low, add stock a ladleful at a time, allowing each to be absorbed before adding the next. Continue stirring constantly, for about 15-20 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed or until rice is cooked but still firm to the bite. . (You may not need all the stock.)

Stir in the seafood, tomatoes, parsley and chives. Season and cook for 1 minute until heated through. Serve straight away.