Seafood Risotto

I’m still relatively new to making a risotto and after it seemingly being national risotto day on the Good Food Channel the other day, I picked up the first cook book to hand, Gordon Ramsay’s World Kitchen and started looking for one to make. I started flicking through the Italian section and found this Seafood Risotto. I thought this would be perfect as we both love seafood and thought it would be similar to the stunning seafood linguine I had at Carluccio’s last year. After watching 3 celebrities ladling various stocks on their various risotto’s over a period of time, I made sure I lovingly prepared mine with the same flair they all used!

To say this was good is an understatement. The food was only half-eaten by the time my girlfriend asked me to make this again next week. Any risotto lovers should try this.

As I was making it for the two of us, I halved all the ingredients and that was perfect for a delicious supper.

(Printable Recipe)

Serves 4

Ingredients:
300g Mussels
300g Prawns
200g Baby Squid, sliced
200ml Water
300ml Dry White Wine
800ml Fish Stock
Pinch of Saffron Strands
2 tbsp Olive Oil
40g Butter
1 Shallot peeled and chopped
1 Garlic Clove peeled and chopped
350g Risotto Rice
Finely grated zest of 1 Lemon
Sea Salt and Black Pepper
Flat Leaf Parsley, leaves chopped

1 Pour the water and 200ml of the wine into a large pan and bring to the boil over a high heat. Tip in the mussels, cover the pan and give it a few shakes.

2 Cook for 2-3 minutes until the mussels have opened. Drain them in a colander set on top of a pan to collect the juices. Shell the mussels and set aside, discarding any that remain closed.

3 Add the stock and saffron strands to the mussel juices and bring to a simmer.

4 Heat the olive oil and half the butter in a large pan. Add the shallot and garlic and fry until softened for about 6-8 minutes.

5 Tip the rice into the pan, stir well to coat and cook for about 2 minutes until the rice starts to turn translucent.

6 Pour in the remaining wine and let it bubble until all the liquid has been absorbed.

7 Add a ladleful of hot stock and stir until it has all been absorbed. Continue adding the stock in this way until the rice is creamy with a slight bite. (You may not need all the liquid.)

8 Stir in the prawns and squid and simmer for 2 minutes until they are just cooked through, adding the mussels for the last minute.

9 Finally stir in the grated lemon zest and remaining butter and taste for seasoning. Take the pan off the heat and leave to stand for a few minutes.

Serve at once, sprinkled with the chopped parsley.

Enjoy!