A proper occasion risotto. The mussel liquor does the heavy lifting, so the rice tastes of the sea long before the seafood goes in.
Prep
25 mins
Cook
35 mins
Servings
4
Per serving
£4.10
Difficulty
medium
Risotto ai frutti di mare is one of the few risottos I make without cheese - the dairy flattens the shellfish. Instead the finish is a knob of butter, a lot of parsley and a squeeze of lemon. Steam the mussels first and keep every drop of the liquid they release; that is the flavour base.
Put the mussels in a wide pan with the wine, clamp on a lid and set over a high heat for 3-4 minutes, shaking once, until they gape. Tip into a colander set over a bowl. Discard any that stayed shut, pick most of the meat out of the shells and keep a dozen in the shell for the top.
Pour the collected mussel liquor through a fine sieve to catch grit, then stir it into the fish stock.
Warm the oil in a heavy, wide pan over a medium heat. Cook the shallots with the salt for 6-7 minutes until soft and translucent but not coloured, then add the garlic and chilli flakes for another minute.
Tip in the rice and stir for 2 minutes until the grains look glassy at the edges and smell faintly toasted. This is what keeps the risotto from turning to porridge later.
Add a ladle of the hot stock. Stir until it has almost gone, then add another. Carry on like this for about 16 minutes, keeping the pan at a lazy simmer rather than a rolling boil.
You are aiming for the pan to be loose and moving, not stiff. If it looks tight, you are behind on stock.
At the 16 minute mark stir in the cherry tomatoes, then the prawns and squid. Cook for 3-4 minutes more, adding stock as needed, until the prawns are pink through and the rice has the faintest bite left in the middle.
Take the pan off the heat, add the butter, most of the parsley and a good squeeze of lemon, and beat hard with a wooden spoon for 30 seconds. Fold through the picked mussels.
Cover and rest for 2 minutes, then loosen with a splash of stock if it has tightened. Serve topped with the reserved mussels in their shells, the rest of the parsley and lemon wedges.