Seafood Risotto

A seafood risotto is the perfect winter dish: hearty, warming, and nutritious.

Ingredients

• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped finely
• 1.75 litres fish stock
• 500g carnaroli rice
• ¾ cup dry white wine
• 1 bunch green asparagus, chopped, tips halved lengthways (see notes)
• 500g green Prawns, peeled, deveined and halved lengthways
• 1 x 250g Squid, cleaned and cut into thin strips, tentacles discarded
• 100g Saucer Scallops, trimmed and quartered
• 100g baby English spinach
• 50g butter
• 1 lemon
• Salt flakes and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Method

Heat oil in a large, high-sided frying pan over medium-high heat and fry onion and garlic for a few minutes, until soft but not coloured.

Meanwhile, bring stock to a simmer in a saucepan, cover and keep on lowest heat.

Add rice to onion and stir for a couple of minutes until grains are hot and well coated in oil. Add wine and stir until absorbed. Reduce heat to medium, add 2 ladlefuls of stock and stir until most of the liquid is absorbed. Continue stirring, adding stock a ladleful at a time for 10 minutes, stirring constantly and allowing each ladleful to be absorbed before adding the next.

After 10 minutes, stir in asparagus. Continue stirring in stock for 4 minutes, then add Prawns and Squid and continue stirring in stock for another 2-4 minutes, until rice is tender, with a slight bite and creamy consistency; you may not need all of the stock.

Stir Scallops, spinach, butter, a squeeze of lemon juice, salt and pepper through the rice, adding a little more stock if necessary to give a creamy consistency. Taste, add extra salt if needed and serve immediately on a flat plate, tapping the bottom of the plate to spread the risotto out.

Notes

If asparagus is thick and woody, discard the woody bottom section and peel the spears with a potato peeler.

Alternative Species: Cuttlefish, Mussels, Salmon, Tuna.