“So should we add butter or cheese to our risotto?” I asked Gioia as we started to prepare the main dish on the menu for our cooking class: Seafood Risotto.
“No! Fish and cheese should never served together,” came Gioia’s rapid reply. “And we never add all that extra butter and cheese at home like the restaurants do – it makes it too rich. Risotto should be a healthy meal. The rice is digested within the hour. It shouldn’t be heavy.”
This was surprising fact number one. I have often felt inadequate making risotto at home, for the fact that it never quite comes out as insanely creamy as it does in restaurants. The creaminess in fact has put me off ordering this dish in the past.
Surprising fact number too: figuring out how long to cook the rice for. I imagined there must be some secret trick, but other than having a pot of boiling water (not stock) on the stove, to add as the rice thickens, Gioia’s advice was clear: “Just follow the directions on the box. Each brand of rice is slightly different, so it’s best to follow the instructions.’
Ah, okay then. Even I can do that. So here’s the recipe so you can make your own yummy seafood risotto at home. I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Adding the shrimp to the soffritto.
Mussels resting in their cooking juices.
- 1h
- 30m
- 1h 30m
Ingredients
- fresh clams, mussels and raw shrimp with shells
- 1 large carrot, grated
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 1 large onion, roughly sliced (to cook with the mussels)
- 1 package best quality risotto rice - allow 4oz or 100g/per person (I've noticed that different packages recommend different amounts - so go with what's on the box)
- 1 liter boiling water, or fish stock
- Splash of white wine (optional)
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- First prepare all your different shellfish. Having rested the clams in cold salted water, drain them and rinse them. Cook them in a shallow pan with a 1/2 inch or so of water. Once open, let them cool. Keeping the cooking liquid. Remove the shells.
- The mussels go straight into a deeper pot with a couple of inches of water, and the roughly sliced onion. Steam them until they open. Strain, keeping the water they cooked in, and remove their shells and the “beard”. Place your shelled mussels into the cooking water to stay fresh and avoid drying out.
- Prep your shrimp by removing the heads, the shells and tails. Then steam until they turn a lovely light pink. Once cool, run a knife down the spine to so you can quickly and easily remove the vein. Set aside.
- Next prepare your soffrito: the heart of a good risotto. Grate a large carrot and finely chop an onion. Throw a splash of olive oil into a wide, shallow pan with medium-high sides and a thick base. Add your carrot and onion with a sprinkle of salt. Allow to slowly cook until the onion becomes translucent, stirring from time to time. Once ready, add the cooked, peeled shrimp to the pan.
- Set about a liter of water (or stock) on the stove and bring to a boil. Keep on the boil.
- Weigh your rice: you will want 100g or 4oz of rice per person.
- Add your rice to the soffrito, stirring so it becomes coated in oil. Set your timer for the directed length of time
- Then add a ladle-full of hot water, stirring well so the starches start to release.
- Add the mussels and the clams and continue adding hot water each time it seems the rice has almost absorbed the water, stirring all the time. Cook according to the directions on the box - in our case, it was 16 minutes and we timed it exactly.
- Feel free to add a good few splashes of wine, in lieu of water, during the cooking.
- Once the time is up, check seasoning, adjusting as necessary, and finely chop some parsley.
- Serve and sprinkle each plate with parsley. Buon appetito!
Nutrition
Leave a Reply