Prawn & Squid Risotto

Recently, a friend came round with a whole cooked lobster. After I finished clapping my hands with glee, we munched away happily on it. Later, I smashed the shell up with a spanner, spraying my kitchen with tiny bits of shell, and it all went into the stockpot. Celery, shallots and carrot went in there with it and a couple hours of simmering later, it became a lobster broth. It was richly flavoured, beautifully coloured. I later found shell in my hair.

I don't often make risottos as they're so reliant on a decent stock base, so this immediately came to mind. A hint of saffron complements the deep lobster flavour, with prawns adding sweetness and squid, the texture. Sadly there was no lobster to add but what I did have made a decent substitute. Crab would also work well with this. Enriched with plenty of butter, the huge portion I managed to eat was creamy and luxurious.

Prawn & Squid Risotto

Serves 1

110gr arborio rice
600ml lobster stock
A large slosh of white wine
1 stick of celery
1 small carrot
Half an onion
1 clove of garlic
A pinch of saffron
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 small chilli
1 tsp capers
5 large raw prawns
2 small squid tubes with tentacles
50gr butter
Half a lemon

Put the lobster stock on to simmer. Add the saffron to a few tablespoons of hot water to infuse. Butterfly the prawns and slice the squid into rings.

Finely dice the onion, celery, carrot, garlic and chilli. Halve the butter and add it to the frying pan with a little bit of oil. Add the diced vegetables and cook slowly for at least 10 minutes. Add the rice and stir to coat all the grains with the butter. Add the large splosh of white wine and stir until the rice has soaked it up. Next, add the infused saffron water, straining out the strands. Add the stock, ladleful by ladleful, stirring constantly and not adding more until the previous ladleful has been soaked up. This will take about 15- 20 minutes, and once the rice turns creamy and has still a little bit of bite, it will be done. On the last ladleful of stock, add the squid and prawns. Once the stock has been absorbed and the prawns just pink, turn the heat off, add the parsley, capers, lemon juice and the rest of the butter. Give it a good stir and put the lid on, leaving it for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, and serve.