Simple Seafood Risotto with Truffle Chorizo

No Mediterranean holiday for me this summer but with blue skies over Blighty recently I brought the taste of summer to my own back garden with a simple seafood risotto which was bursting with flavour.

Now we dreamed up the name of this site The Eat Sheets as a play on "cheat sheets" because we loved the loose connection to the definition of a cheat sheet being "something which gives useful information about a subject our helps you remember or do something" (definition from Cambridge Dictionary)

This recipe is the epitome of that mindset - it's a little bit cheaty as I used bags of frozen pre-prepared seafood from the supermarket and ready made chicken stock. Feel free to wash mussels, chop squid and pan fry prawns for a special occasion but otherwise this speeds up the whole process and makes it suitable for a simple but tasty supper.

My latest foodie find is the charcuterie section at good old British grocers, M&S where I picked up a divine Spanish chorizo with truffle oil. The smokiness didn't detract from the subtle saffron I added to the arborio rice and the truffle flavour was not "sweaty sock" strong.

Cheat number 2. As I said earlier I used ready made fresh chicken stock. Better than crumbly cubes but not as good as making the whole lot from scratch. 

Top tip for making fresh stock if you have a slow cooker,  bung any meat bones or chicken carcasses in with about one pint of water and any left over veg and let it cook for around 4 hours, Strain, cool and freeze.

There's no real skill in making risotto or paella, just patience. I'm a bit of an obsessive stirrer and I probably add too much liquid but I quite like my rice dishes a little sticky.

I cooked it on gas indoors but you could be brave and try it over hot coals on a BBQ. Make sure they are white hot and there are no flames.

Anyway, without further ado, here's the recipe (serves 4-6)

INGREDIENTS

350g/12oz risotto (arborio) rice

2oz butter

1tbsp olive oil

1 garlic clove chopped (or a tsp of cheats ready chopped garlic)

one small diced white onion

120ml/4floz white wine

1 bag frozen seafood mix.

1pint stock (veg or chicken)

1/2 tsp saffron

1 fresh lemon

optional chorizo sliced into chunks to personal taste

optional whole mussels for decoration

METHOD

Defrost seafood as per packet instructions. Drain well.

Melt butter and oil in large frying pan (or a paella pan ion you have one) then add garlic and onion and cook gently until soft. Add rice and a splash of wine and stir until well coated with butter. 

Add saffron and pour in the rest of the wine, bring to the boil then remove from heat until rice absorbs liquid. (all of this can be done a little bit in advance if you are wanting to get some prep out of the way.

Return pan to medium heat and stir continuously adding stock in three stages, allowing liquid to absorb before adding more. If you have the patience. I tend to stir and add and stir and add and then add even more liquid than my own recipe but hey, you do you.

When the rice is just tender but still has bite (al dente) you can add parmesan and/or chorizo. Meanwhile pan-fry seafood in butter (I add garlic too) and then stir into rice.

Decorate with mussels, lemon slices and any greenery you have to hand and there you have it. A lovely taste of summer in a bowl. I like to serve with a basket of fresh crusty bread but then I reckon everything is better served with fresh crusty bread.