Mussel and Saffron Risotto

Start by cleaning the mussels. Quickly rinse the mussels in cold water and remove the beards, by quickly pulling them away from the shell.

To cook the mussels. Heat them with a little drizzle of olive oil in a large pan with a lid on a high flame. Leave them to open, shaking the pan occasionally. It takes around 2-3 minutes for them to open.

Remove the lid and pour the liquid from the mussels through a mesh sieve into a bowl, reserving for later. Remove the meat of the mussels from the shell and place in the strained liquid. Discard the shells.

Dice the eschallots, finely chop the parsley and set aside.

In a saucepan, bring the vegetable stock to a boil and let it simmer away.

In another saucepan, over low heat, add the olive oil and the diced eshalot. Stir occasionally and let cook for a few minutes or until translucent.

Now add the rice, stir and make sure it’s well coated with the oil.

Once the rice is toasted (about 2-3 minutes), add the wine, stir, and cook until it has evaporated.

Now add a ladle of stock to cover the rice and a few tablespoons of the mussels cooking liquid. Add a big pinch of saffron to the pot.

Stir occasionally and make sure the rice does not stick to the bottom of the pan.

Once the stock is absorbed by the rice, add another ladle of the stock and another tablespoon or two mussel liquid.

Repeat until you have used the majority of the stock and mussel liquid your rice is al dente (approximately 18 minutes).

One minute before the cooking time is finished, add mussels. Stir in chopped parsley and a drizzle of olive oil, and check for seasoning, adding salt and pepper if needed.

Cover and let it rest for 1 minute.

Serve it in individual plates and top the rice with some more parsley and a final drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.