Italian
cuisine
Chef Marco Pierre
Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp olive oil.
- ½ banana shallot, very
finely chopped.
- 1 clove garlic, finely
chopped.
- Generous pinch of saffron
strands or ground saffron.
- 1 chicken stock Pot,
dissolved in 600ml hot water.
- 175g risotto rice.
- 100 ml white wine.
- 20 to 30 live cockles,
clams or mussels, scrubbed thoroughly.
- 8 to 10 raw tiger
prawns, shelled and chopped or 8 to 10 shelled cooked tiger prawns.
- 2 squid, cleaned and sliced into strips or 150g
ready-prepared squid rings.
- Pinch of sweet Spanish
paprika.
- 1 tbsp parsley chopped
(optional).
Directions:
- Heat the olive oil in a
deep, heavy-based sauté pan.
- Add in the chopped
shallot and garlic and sweat over high heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly
so that they don’t colour. By doing this you’re removing the water content and
bringing out the shallot’s flavour and natural sweetness.
- Pour 600 ml of boiling
water into a jug.
- Add in the chicken stock
Pot and stir until dissolved.
- Add the saffron strands
to the hot chicken stock.
- Add the risotto rice to
the softened shallot and garlic, and mix in.
- Pour in the white wine
and cook, stirring constantly, until evaporated. By reducing the white wine,
you release its natural sweetness.
- Add the saffron-infused
chicken stock a little at a time, stirring the rice so that it cooks evenly and
allowing the stock to absorb into the rice before adding more stock.
- Add a little extra hot
water at this stage if you think the rice still needs it. I like to add my
stock a little at a time and cook it out before adding more as I think this way
gives more flavour.
- After the rice has been
cooking for about 15 minutes, add in the cockles and cook, shaking the pan now
and then, until they open up. Discard any cockles that don’t open. If you
haven’t got cockles, then use clams or mussels.
- Add the prawns and squid
to the pan. I’ve used raw tiger prawns, but you can use cooked prawns if you
prefer.
- Sprinkle a pinch of
sweet Spanish paprika over the top and stir into the rice.
- Heat, stirring until the
prawns and squid are just cooked, for 2 to 3 minutes or so and 7 minutes if
using cooked prawns and ready-prepared squid.
- Garnish with parsley and
serve at once. A green salad on the side makes a nice accompaniment.