Seafood Risotto

Directions

• Put 1.5 litres of water in a pan to boil. When it comes to the boil, add the two fish stock cubes and dissolve them to make the stock. Keep the stock on a rolling boil the whole time.
• Melt the butter in a frying pan and slowly add the white wine, keeping the mixture bubbling all the time. Once all the wine has been added and the mixture is bubbling, add one crushed garlic clove and the parsley and cook for another minute.
• Add the clams and cover the saucepan. Keep cooking on high heat until all the clams open, swirling the pan from time to time to move the clams around and spread the heat. Discard any clams that don’t open.
• Remove the clams to a bowl, keeping as much of the liquid in the frying pan as possible. Make sure the mixture is bubbling again and add 3 more crushed garlic cloves. Cook for another minute.
• Add the mussels and cover the saucepan. Keep cooking on high heat until all the mussels open, swirling the pan from time to time to move the mussels around and spread the heat. Discard any mussels that don’t open.
• Remove the mussels to a bowl, keeping as much of the liquid in the frying pan as possible. This liquid has all the good flavour.
• Now add the prawns and salmon to the pan and cook gently for 2-3 minutes. They should be just barely cooked as they will be returned to the risotto later in the process and will finish cooking at the end. Remove to a bowl and cover to keep warm.
• Add the rice and cook in the mixture for a minute or two. Don’t allow it to dry out completely, add a ladle of stock as it starts to dry out. Stir constantly to avoid sticking.
• Continue adding stock a ladle at a time, stirring constantly. Let the mixture thicken between each ladle of stock, then add another ladle. The rice is done when it swells in size and is soft but still firm. You should not allow the mixture to dry out, it should still be slightly wet when you are serving it.
• While the rice is cooking, remove about half of the clams and half of the mussels from their shells.
• Once the rice is cooked to your satisfaction, add a small knob of butter and stir well through the rice until it’s completely melted and mixed in.
• Add back the mussels, clams, prawns and salmon (keeping back about half of the mussels and clams in their shells to garnish each plate) and stir gently to mix all the seafood through. Use the remaining mussels and clams in their shells to garnish the top of each plate when serving.
• Serve immediately with some freshly chopped parsley on top if you wish.