Lemony risotto with asparagus and prawns

The asparagus theme continues - today's entry: risotto. Sure, risotto isn't necessarily the lightest dish for summer... but let's face it: it is gooooood.

If the prawns you're using are the whole, raw variety, you might want to cook some shellfish stock from the shells and use it for the risotto, continuing with some fish/seafood stock or fond (2 tbsp for 1/2 liters of water). Remember to keep the stock hot in a pot as you cook the risotto.

For 3-4

3,5 dl risotto rice

9-12 dl fish/ seafood stock

3 shallots/ 1 small onion/ 1/2 of a bigger kind

1 large garlic clove or 2 small ones

1 generous tbsp butter + more to finish

1 bundle of asparagus (appr. 500 g)

500 g king prawns

1 dl white wine

the zest of 1/2 lemon

1 generous tbsp chopped chives

Fry finely chopped onion and garlic in butter. Add rice and stir until translucent. Then add wine. Once it has been absorbed, start adding hot stock, one ladle at a time. Keep stirring. The texture of the finished product should be loose.

Once the rice is almost done (around 20 minutes) fold in the prawns and let the heat cook them.  OR (if using raw ones) grill them until done separately after having tossed them around in a bit of oil, salt, pepper and lemon juice).

Snap off the woody ends of the asparagus, chop them into a couple of centimetre long pieces and and steam them or cook them in a little water until done (about 5 minutes). Fold them into the risotto too. Before serving add a knob of butter into the risotto, along with chopped chives and grated lemon zest. Season to taste and serve. With some chilled white wine. On a sunny terrace. Ooooh, summer...

Soup Sunday: Zarzuela

I've tried to recreate this Spanish fish soup ever since I fell in love with this in Carihuela. Personally I'd continue developing and fine-tuning the recipe but according to The Gentleman this was actually better than the original version. 

The consistency is somewhere between soup and stew. Delicious it is, in any case. There are numerous versions around - every city, restaurant and home chef has their own. 

If you have been making that shellfish stock, this is a good way to use it. If you haven't, lobster fond will do just fine. The first versions of this were a bit too in your face- depending on the variety and freshness the seafood adds quite a bit of oceany flavour. 

Based on the mood and availability of seafood you could use just about any fish and seafood. Fish should be firm-fleshed kind and calamari should be fairly small so it will cook well.

4 portions

16 king prawns
8 langoustines
2 panga fillets (total weight appr. 300 g)
4 calamari tubes (about 20 cm long)
16 mussels
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
1 chilli
3,5 dd shellfish stock or 2,5 tbsp lobster find + 3 dl water
5 dl cream
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tbsp pimento (or regular paprika)
1 tsp grated orange zest
about 10 g saffron
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt, pepper

Soften the onion in a bit of oil until translucent. Add finely chopped chilli and garlic. Once they too  have softened, add paprika, tomato concentrate, orange zest and lemon juice. Then add water, lobster fond or stock, saffron and cream. Mix and add the fish and seafood in the order of cooking: first fish, then langoustines followed by king prawns and finally the calamari cut into 1/2 cm rings. Let simmer covered until everything is cooked. Throw away the mussels that don't open. Season (careful with salt!) and serve with sprinkling of parsley.

Foodblogger/fanatically perfectionist photo stager wasn't happy editing this photo.
Should I have found time to wipe the edges? YES!

DIY Shellfish stock

Because of the huge quantities of shellfish I go through each week (is it any wonder the that the local neighbourhood stray cats sit on stand-by at our terrace- waiting for their all you can eat- extravaganza...) , it would be shame to waste any of their goodness, so I cook stock out of their shells. I like to keep it old school and don't add a whole lot of spices to it, because I use it for so many different things: dishes echoing Asian, Spanish... and my own kitchen, so the flavours can be adjusted for each of them.

These are not cooked though the colour would suggest different...

Peel the prawns. Tip: As you snap the head off, the vein usually easily follows in one piece without any butterflying needed later on. This can be checked by looking at the prawn against light.

Heat some oil in a pan. Add the shells (sometimes, especially if I have some leftover onion lurking around, I might add some onions. Sometimes not. It's no biggie, since my cooking usually starts with onions anyway. Some people like to add some carrots and other stock-making-veggies, but my approach is a bit more purist. Or a lot lazier...)

Bash them ruthlessly. As they get a bit of colour and start releasing their oceany aroma, add enough water to barely cover them. I'd rather have a little bit of good quality, highly concentrated flavour that can be diluted if needed, than a ton of watery liquid.

Let simmer on modest heat (no bubbling!) for approoximately 30 minutes. Should any foam start colelcting on the surface, just peel it off. Keep bashing those prawns to make sure they'll give as much flavour as possible. Add salt to taste.

Run it through a sieve (lined with muslin, should you have some) and voilá- you're done. The stock keeps in the fridge for a couple of days but you can easily freeze it too for later use- using small bottles or ice cube trays.

And hey- this (too) is nothing to fret about. The store bought shellfish stock works wonders too...

Pimientos Rellenos

On our first trip to Ronda a couple of years ago the Gentleman discovered just what I'm made of. More precisely that you don't mess with low blood sugar or your risking the emergence of a monstrous personality of Hulk- like proportions. But showing food down my throat will shut me up and make the whining stop!

For lunch that day I had Spanish speciality called Pimientos Rellenos, peppers stuffed with fish. For the longest time I tried to figure out the secret to the beautiful sauce - seafood stock just might be the answer. And now that I've been going through ridiculous quantities of shellfish, I finally got around to trying the dish at home.

The stuffing is, depending on the day, place and availability pretty much anything you can get your hands on, but the foundation is bechamel sauce. For the stuffing the bechamél needs to be firm, so it is recommended that you make it the day before. If that's not possible, use less liquid, but even so, let the mixture cool and set for a while.

The peppers used for this dish are piquillo peppers, sweet, rectangular delicacies that are sold in jars. They have been roasted and peeled and are ready to use, either as such, in salads or stuffed like this. If those are not available, you can use any similar product, though these, stored in oil, are in my opinion better than the Greek variety that is often pickled in vinegary liquid. You could, of course, roast and peel your own, but at least my fingers aren't nimble enough to get the skin off leaving the small peppers intact. Though you could also stuff some regular red peppers, in which case the stuffing is enough for approximately 3 small peppers. If you like, you could also add some cheese.

The spare (and broken) piquillo peppers I used for the sauce, but those too can be substituted with regular roasted peppers. Roast them in a grill (or in the oven, hight heat) until the skin turns black and starts bubbling. Let them cool for a bit in a plastic bag  and pull the skin off. Do not rinse, as this just rinses off so much of the flavour.

The fish used in this is usually bacalao (cod?) or merluz, but I used panga since we happened to have some. I would imagine any white, firm fish would do. 

This recipe makes enough for 2 portions of 4 pimientos each.

Stuffing

1 small onion/ one half of a large one

the zest of 1/2 lemon

300 g white, firm fish

2 rkl seafood stock

2 heaped tbsp flour
2 5 dl milk, heated
sprinkling of nutmeg
handful of chopped parsley
salt, pepper

Heat some oil in a pan. Add the lemon zest, chopped onion and fry until the onion is soft and transluscent. Add the fish, chopped into chunks and let cook for a while. Then add the flour . Keep stirring and make sure the flour doesn't burn. Add the stock and stir vigorously. Then add milk, whisking continuously. Let simmer in medium heat so that the flour cooks and the sauce comes together. Don't fret if the fish chunks get mashed around a bit. Add the nutmeg and parsley. Finish off with the seasoning. Let cool, preferably until the next day.

The following day stuff the peppers with the stuffing and heat in the oven in low heat until they're warm (they're not even supposed to be piping hot). In the meanwhile make the sauce.

Sauce:

1/2 onion

6 piquillo peppers

(or 2 regular  red peppers, roasted and peeled)
1/2 tsp garlic, chopped
1 tsp pimiento or any other paprika
2 tsp tomato paste
1,5 dl seafood stock
1/2 tsp orange zest
dash of sherry or dry white wine
1/2 tsp dill
2 heaped tbsp Turkish yoghurt
(or appr. 1,5 dl cream)
salt, pepper

Fry the garlic, onion and paprika in some oil. As the onion has softened, blizz it to a paste with the peppers. Add the sherry/ wine into the pan to lift all the flavours. Then add the orange zest and tomato paste. Stir for a while and then add the shellfish stock and papper and onion paste. Let bubble away under the lid for about 10 minutes so the sauce thickens and the flavour some together. Then add dill and cream/ yoghurt for desired creaminess. Season and serve with the peppers.

Oh, you're wondering about the pile of leaves in the middle of the plate as opposed to one carefully placed elegant sprig? Because I did not make the stuffing in advance. Because that would have required planning and organizational skills...