seafood risotto (risotto ai frutti di mare)
main courses | serves 6
This risotto is something very special. You will need a mixture of seafood – try red mullet, monkfish, bream, John Dory, cod, mussels, clams, prawns and a little sliced squid. You can either use bought fish stock to make this risotto or you can have a go at making your own, as I do here. (Ask your fishmonger for the fish heads to use in the stock – these usually go into the bin, so you shouldn’t be charged for them). I’m going to make it in a slightly different way to the normal method, where I would fillet the fish before adding the bones and fish-heads to the stock, so bear with me!
Put the exact amount of water into a large pan with the carrots, tomatoes, bay leaf and whole parsley sprig and bring to the boil, adding your whole fish but not your shellfish. Simmer for 10 minutes, then remove each fish from the pan and flake the flesh away from the bones. (If you have a cod head, try to remove the cheeks as they’re the best bit!) Put the meat on a plate to one side; return any bones to the stock to simmer for another 15 minutes max, skimming any froth off the surface every so often. Meanwhile start your basic risotto, adding the fennel, fennel seeds, chilli and saffron to the pan at Stage 1.
Pass the stock through a colander into another pan and throw away the vegetables and bones. Add most of the fish stock to your risotto, keeping a little to finish the dish, and when the rice is nearly cooked towards the end of Stage 3, add your flaked fish and shellfish. After 3 or 4 minutes the shellfish will have opened (discard any that remain closed); then remove from the heat.
As you’re not supposed to mix cheese and fish in pasta or risotto dishes we’re not going to finish it with Parmesan. Instead, at Stage 4, when you add the butter, check the seasoning, drizzle with a lug of extra virgin olive oil and squeeze over the lemon juice. To serve, divide the risotto between your plates, and spoon over the remaining stock. Drizzle with some more extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with the remaining parsley and the reserved fennel tops.

• from
Jamie's Italy
ingredients
• 1.5 litres water
• 2 small carrots, roughly chopped
• 3 tomatoes, squashed
• 1 bay leaf
• a small bunch of fresh parsley, one sprig left whole, remaining leaves picked and finely chopped
• 1.5kg mixed seafood (see above), scaled, cleaned, gutted, with heads and gills removed, mussels debearded
• 1 x
basic risotto recipe
• ½ a bulb of fennel, finely chopped, herby tops reserved
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• a pinch of crumbled dried chilli
• a pinch of saffron strands
• extra virgin olive oil
• juice of 1 lemon
I love risotto and this is the best one yet!
Katie
XOXO
I'm from Poland and i love all your books and tv programms. I want to be as good as you but i know it's mission impossible ;)
All good for you from Poland!!!
Ania
4 SERVINGS
Prepare night or morning before.
4 thick Salmon pieces
Teriyaki Sauce
2 bunches scallions
Fresh Ginger grated
2 large cloves of Garlic chopped finely
Pepper
Jasmine Rice
Red, yellow, green bell peppers diced in very small pieces
Olive oil
Spray Pam in aluminum pan lined with parchment paper. Place salmon pieces side by side. Sprinkle teriyaki sauce – just dot the salmon – top with garlic and ginger. Julienne scallions lengthwise and cover salmon with them. Cover pan with aluminum foil. Refrigerate.
Preheat oven to 350. Bake covered 20 minutes then uncovered for 10 minutes.
Prepare jasmine rice with red, yellow and orange bell peppers. Add to rice.
Can be made ahead of time. Before serving, warm in microwave with a touch of olive oil.
Mound the rice on a plate and lean the salmon on top using the juice at the bottom of the pan to top it. Serve with a wedge of lime.
You will need for the sauce. Cucumber, creme fresh,wholegrain mustard,lemon, white wine vinegar.
For the salmon - salmon fillets, dill. Spring onions, carrots
First i would sugest to make the sauce. I haven't put any weights for the ingredients as i think it is done better to taste as some people don't like lemon ect. You will need to put the creme fresh into a bowl. You want to peel the cucumber deseed and chop roughly add this into the bowl. Then you want to add the zest of the lemon dependant on taste but be daring as when all together tastes amazing and half a lemon juice. Then add wholegrain mustard i usually add around a teaspoon but remember to taste i usually do this by using a left over slice of cucumber. Add a dash of white wine vinegar. Then place in fridge.
Marinate salmon in dill and a little lemon juice.
You will then need to prepare the carrots and Spring onions. Peel the carrots and then you want to peel the carrots to produce wafer thin strips. You can do as many of these as you like. Then prepare sping onions peel and slice in half again feel free on numbers.
Cook salmon in frying pan until nearly cooked then place in oven to finish off. Then keeping the pan hot and with juices from salmon add the spring onions first for a minute then add the carrots season with salt then cook for a couple of minutes until slightly golden. Then serve.
Place salmon on plate place on top the carrots and spring onions. Then place a little of the sauce on top. I usually like lots of the sauce. Serve with roasted new potatos and veg.
Danielle Parker
Harrogate
I have a version of a Crocque Madame which i have a go at on a lazy long sunday morning:
Take a pan of simmered water and poach a couple of boneless fillets of smoked haddock. If you can get fillet or what the Scots call 'Block' of smoked haddock, so much the better.
Give the fish a good 5 minutes WITHOUT ANY EXTRA HEAT, as the pan water will cook the fish fine without need of move simmering.
Next use the pan to poach a couple of eggs, toast up a couple of slices of bread per person, butter if you like, place the fish on one slice, make a sandwich by putting the other slice on top, gently perch the poached egg on top, and last of all generously cover the egg with grated Emmental Cheese. place the whole sandwich under the grill until the cheese has melted. A bit of black pepper, some chives if you've got, and voila!
A Scots Madame!
Eat with a knife and fork - looks like a spectacle and is a real appetite buster - but does get you your fish, and as nothing is fried you are only really wincing about the cheese - but it is a Sunday!!
Enjoy!
Ed Walton
Aberdeenshire