Mussel Risotto Recipes

MUSSEL RISOTTO

Steps:

• Clean the mussels. Inspect each one carefully and discard any that have opened (if some are partly open, tap them with your finger, and if they close back up they are O.K.) or have cracked shells. Place in a large bowl, fill the bowl with cold water and rinse several times, swishing the mussels around in the water, pouring out the water and refilling. Clean the shells, if necessary, with a brush or the end of one of the mussels, and pull out the beards - the hairy attachments emerging from the shells. Do not do this until just before cooking, or the mussels will die and spoil.
• Combine 1 cup of the wine and the 3 cups of water in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add the sliced onion, the crushed garlic cloves, the thyme and parsley sprigs, and the peppercorns and bring to a boil. Add the mussels, cover the pan and cook until the mussels have opened, about 4 minutes. Stir the mussels halfway through. Using tongs, transfer the mussels to a bowl, holding them over the pot first so any liquid in the shells will drain into the pot. Discard any that have not opened. When they are cool enough to handle, remove the mussels from their shells.
• Line a strainer with a double thickness of dampened cheesecloth, place over a saucepan and strain the broth from the mussels. Add more water or stock to make 6 cups if using 1 1/2 cups arborio rice. (You will have enough if using 1 cup arborio.) Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Taste and season as desired.
• Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a wide, heavy nonstick skillet or a wide, heavy saucepan. Add the finely chopped onion and the celery and a generous pinch of salt, and cook gently until the onion is just tender, about 3 minutes. Do not brown.
• Stir in the arborio rice and the minced garlic and stir until the grains separate and begin to crackle. Add the remaining 1/2 cup wine and stir until it is no longer visible in the pan. Add the tomatoes and saffron and cook, stirring, until the tomatoes have cooked down slightly and smell fragrant, about 5 minutes.
• Begin adding the simmering stock, a couple of ladlefuls (about 1/2 cup) at a time. The stock should just cover the rice, and should be bubbling, not too slowly but not too quickly. Cook, stirring often, until it is just about absorbed. Add another ladleful or two of the stock and continue to cook in this fashion, adding more and stirring when the rice is almost dry. You do not have to stir constantly, but stir often. When the rice is just tender all the way through but still chewy, stir in the mussels and any juice that has accumulated in the bowl, the cooked brown rice, if using, and the peas. Taste now and adjust seasoning. Stir in another ladleful of stock and remove from the heat. The mixture should be creamy (add more stock if it isn't). Serve right away in wide soup bowls or on plates, spreading the risotto in a thin layer rather than a mound.

EASIEST EVER SEAFOOD RISOTTO

Steps:

• Tip the onion and fennel into a bowl, toss in the oil and microwave on High for 5 mins. Stir in the rice, pour over the stock, cover the bowl with a plate and continue to microwave on High for 10-15 mins more or until the rice is just on the verge of being cooked.
• Throw in the seafood and peas, cover and continue to microwave on High for 2-3 mins until the rice is cooked. Stir in the parmesan and lemon juice and leave to stand for a moment while you mix the parsley with the lemon zest. Spoon the risotto into bowls and scatter over parsley and lemon zest.

MUSSELS, CLAMS AND SHRIMP WITH SAFFRON RISOTTO AND GREEN OLIVE RELISH

Steps:

• Bring stock and saffron to simmer in medium saucepan. Remove from heat; cover to keep warm.
• Heat olive oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add shallots; sauté until tender, about 2 minutes. Add rice and garlic; stir 1 minute. Add white wine and stir until absorbed, about 2 minutes. Add 1/2 cup saffron stock and simmer until absorbed, stirring frequently. Add remaining stock 1/2 cup at a time, allowing stock to be absorbed before adding more and stirring frequently until rice is cooked halfway, about 10 minutes. Add clam juice, mussels, littleneck clams, shrimp and chopped tomatoes. Cover and simmer until rice is tender, mussels and clams open, shrimp are cooked through and liquid is absorbed, about 10 minutes (discard any mussels and clams that do not open). Divide seafood and saffron risotto equally among 4 bowls. Sprinkle with sliced green onions. Garnish with lemon wedges. Serve, passing Green Olive Relish separately.

SMOKED MUSSELS RISOTTO

Steps:

• Heat nonstick pan while chopping whole onion.
• Coat pan with olive oil spray and, with heat on medium high, saute onion until it begins to brown.
• In another pot, heat stock to a simmer.
• Rinse mussels in strainer under warm water; drain and cut in half.
• Chop whole pepper, and add to onion when onion has begun to brown. Stir and cook about 2 minutes.
• Add rice and wine to onion-pepper mixture, and cook over high heat about 1 minute longer, until wine has almost evaporated.
• Add 1 cup of the stock to the rice mixture, cooking over medium-high heat and stirring occasionally. When liquid has been absorbed, add another cup of stock, along with the tomato paste, stirring well to blend in paste. Continue adding stock and cooking, with occasional stirring, until rice is soft but still firm. With the last cup of stock, add the mussels to the mixture. Do not cook away all the liquid: the mixture should be slightly runny.

CREAMY RISOTTO WITH MUSSELS, SHRIMP AND CALAMARI

Steps:

• Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil for 2-3 minutes over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally. Add the rice and toast lightly for 1-2 minutes without letting the rice or onion take on any color.
• Add the wine and cook until almost completely absorbed. Add most of the hot fish stock (it should come about ½ inch above the rice) and bring to a simmer. Cook the risotto, stirring occasionally, until the rice has absorbed some of the liquid, about 8 minutes.
• Add the mussels, shrimp and squid (tentacles as well), and tomatoes, and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the seafood is cooked and the rice is al dente, about 6 minutes. As the rice continues to absorb the liquid, add more as needed.
• Remove the risotto from the heat, add butter Grana Padano or Parmesan cheese. Stir well to release the starches and make the risotto creamy.
• Season with pepper and serve immediately.

RISOTTO WITH MUSSELS AND SAFFRON

Steps:

• Steamed Mussels: Simmer all ingred except mussels for 2 minutes. Add mussels, cover pot and steam over high heat until mussels open, about 4 minutes. (Discard mussels that do not open.) Remove mussels from shells, Strain liquid in pot through double thickness of wet cheesecloth and reserve for risotto.
• Risotto: Saute onion in butter over med-low heat in heavy suacepan until lightly colored but not browned, about 2 minutes.
• Meanwhile, combine strained mussel stock and enough chicken stock to make 5c and heat to bare simmer. In seperate small pan, boil saffron in 1/2c of the stock to dissolve. Set aside.
• Raise heat under onion to medium, add wine and allow to evaporate. Add rice and cook 3-4 minutes, stirring to coat thoroughly.
• A half cup at a time at first and less later, add simmering stock to rice, stirring constantly. When rice has nearly absorbed each portion of stock, add another. After 14-15 minutes, add saffron with its hot stock. Rice should be cooked to desired firmness in 18-20 minutes, and 4-5c of the stock will be needed. Remove from heat and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in mussels. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.