Eating seafood dishes evokes memories from the past when my parents owned a fish processing factory, where I worked in the university holidays. We processed mainly lobsters. They were a common food for our family and we became quite spoilt. Now, it is only on rare occasions that we can justify spending the exorbitant amount necessary to buy one but fortunately there are many other forms of seafood that are just as delicious. Adriano has a mountain biking race on Sunday and he has to start loading up on carbs so tonight I made a risotto with mussels, king prawns and calamari rings. Dario protested at having to remove the prawn tails and open the mussels but a mother can’t spoon feed her son forever. He is 21 after all.
Seafood Risotto
Author: Suzanne Perazzini
Ingredients
- ¼ tsp saffron threads
- 400g/14 oz can of diced tomatoes
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 spring onions, finely chopped (green part only)
- 1 tsp garlic-infused oil
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- 1 ½ cups Arborio rice
- 1 litre (4 cups) chicken stock (garlic and onion-free)
- 12 fresh mussels, scrubbed & de-bearded
- 300g calamari rings
- 500g peeled raw king prawns
- ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
- Lemon wedges to serve
Method
- Place stock and saffron in a large saucepan. Bring to the boil. Stand 5 minutes to infuse.
- Add tomatoes. Return to the boil. Remove from the heat. Reserve 1 cup and set aside.
- Heat 2 tbsp olive oil and the garlic oil in a large saucepan to heat.
- Add spring onion and paprika. Cook stirring until soft.
- Add rice, cook for 1 minute.
- Add 1 cup hot stock. Cook until all liquid is absorbed.
- Continue adding stock 1 cup at a time until all stock has been absorbed and rice is tender (about 25 minutes).
- Add the reserved stock with the mussels. Cook, stirring for 2 minutes or until the mussels are all open.
- Meanwhile heat the remaining oil in a frying pan and add prawns and calamari. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes until just cooked.
- Stir calamari and prawns into the risotto.
- Serve with lemon wedges.
I love the look of this risotto and feel quite envious of you having the ability to buy the greenlipped ones! I cook a lot of risottos, mostly vegetarian ones [blame it on my risotto cookbooks!] and am quite fascinated by your methodology of using the tomatoes to enrich the stock, and the timing and method of introducing the seafood. This recipe will be bookmarked for when I can get the raw materials from the Sydney Fish Market 100 km away 🙁 !
These kinds of seafoods take so little time to cook that they must be introduced at the last minute or they would get overcooked. With the tomatoes and saffron, this came out tasting a little like a Spanish paella.
100km to the market? Are you tucked away in the Blue Mountains?
Suzanne
No, the northern edge of the Southern Tablelands 🙁 ! Lovely scenery and birdlife and less wind, BUT!! Yes, I can see your paella connection – shall certainly try this: thanks!!
I am jealous of your scenery. I have been living in a city too long.
Suzanne
Hi there, lovely recipe, I was wondering how many servings would there be as I would love to batch cook this for a week.
It serves 4.
Hi Suzanne,
How lucky to have grown up spoilt on seafood. But then again I don’t think I would like the work involved at the processing factory. Good luck to Adriano on his upcoming race. I wouldn’t mind packing on some extra carbs with you scrumptious risotto. Going to bookmark it for next time we have all the seafood. My hubby also don’t like having to remove the shrimp shells, lol:)
I actually loved working part time in the factory because I felt like a grown up with a real job and there were so many whacky characters working there that I found it intriguing. Morning teas with chocolate covered lamingtons were a favourite time when we all got together and shared stories from our very diverse lives.
I would love to be able to pack on carbs like Adriano too. But unfortunately in my case they would never come off again.
Suzanne
Fantastic! Absolutely Fantastic – I am subscribing right now! 🙂
I had NO idea what saffron even smelt like prior to making this. Totally worth the cost. This meal was DELICIOUS! The kids and I are spending the year studying sea creatures for science, and since we were up to mollusks we went with oysters, mussels and scallops for this dish (and added some shrimp just for fun, as well). Thanks for another great recipe!
I love these simple dishes. I posted this recipe before I started the low FODMAP diet so would now have to make it without the garlic and onion. I have discovered they are major culprits in my digestive problems.
Good luck with the science topic. It is fun to even eat them. That’s total immersion into a subject.
Yes – good point re the low FODMAP changes. I used garlic-infused olive oil instead of garlic and plain oil, and I subbed the green ends of a green onion instead of onion. 🙂
Those are great substitutions – that way the flavours stay the same.
Sorry, am I missing something, as I cant see how many servings your seafood risotto is for? Sounds delicious. I am guessing it serves 3, which would be perfect for me.
Thank you