Name: Risotto alla Pescatora
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 320 g arborio rice; 1 ¼ litres fish stock, hot; 3 tbsp olive oil; 1 onion, finely chopped; 2 garlic cloves; 120 ml dry white wine; 200 g tinned chopped tomatoes; 200 g squid, cut in rings; 8 raw king prawns, about 200 g; 500 g mussels, cleaned; 3 tbsp chopped parsley

Risotto alla Pescatora

Risotto with prawns, mussels and squid stirred into rice cooked in fish stock, white wine and tomato, in 50 minutes.

50 min total Serves 4 servings Medium

Flour, butter, sugar, an egg: no. Rice, stock, wine, and the sea: that is the short list for risotto alla pescatora, the fisherman style rice with mixed shellfish. The rice does the work, and the seafood goes in at the end.

Start with a soffritto of onion and garlic, toast the rice in the oil for 2 minutes until the grains turn translucent at the edge, then add wine. Keep a pan of hot fish stock beside the risotto and add it a ladle at a time. Stir often and wait for each ladle to be absorbed before adding the next. The rice is ready after about 18 minutes, when it is creamy but still firm in the centre.

Add the squid 5 minutes before the end, and the prawns and mussels for the last 3 to 4 minutes so they cook gently. Take it off the heat and let it rest, covered, for 2 minutes. No cheese and no butter at the end: the sea provides the richness. Scatter with parsley.

The Method for Risotto alla Pescatora

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Soften the onion in the oil for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and rice and stir for 2 minutes.
Add the wine and stir until absorbed. Add the tomatoes.
Add the stock a ladle at a time, stirring, for 18 minutes, waiting until each is absorbed.
Add the squid 5 minutes before the end, then the prawns and mussels for the last 4 minutes. Discard any mussels that stay shut.
Rest covered for 2 minutes, scatter with the parsley and serve.

Worth Getting Right

Keep the stock hot so the rice cooks evenly.
Add the seafood late.
Do not add cheese to seafood risotto.

Ingredient Swaps

An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.
A dry vermouth keeps for longer than an open bottle of white wine and is the closer swap than a random white left in the fridge; for an alcohol-free version, use the same amount of stock with a squeeze of lemon.

Pairs Well With

Dry white wine · Green salad · Lemon wedges

Keeping and Reheating

Best fresh. Do not reheat seafood.