Mussels & Prawn Risotto

There are many things that we love and mussels are one of them. They naturally grow on the rocks but they are commonly grown in “bateas”. A “batea” is a wooden structure on the sea where mussels are grown on ropes that hang from this structure into the sea. The seed of the mussel is sort of knitted into the rope so the mussels will grow attached to it as if it was in a rock.

In many fishing villages/towns you can see the “bateas” there, in the horizon. When I went to Sanxenxo I loved looking at them in a bright sunny day. I loved the salty smell of the sea, the sound of the seagulls and the sight of the bateas on the distance with the sparkly of the calm sea under the warming sun.

When I was younger, I also loved mussels, but what I did not love was helping cleaning its beards. My hands froze under the running cold water. My mum always said I could not use hot or even warm water… it was one of those things. But the results were worth it in the end plus I learnt how to do it with her and now I can teach my children.

My mum sent me this recipe a long time ago. Long before she passed away. And found it in one of the letters she had sent me. I have to say that now is one of our favourites. It is flavourful because we use the water from boiling the mussels and that takes it to another level. It is also creamy and rich as a risotto should always be.

So please, enjoy this recipe that comes all the way from my kitchen to you.

You can find the step by step video to this recipe here:

Mussels & Prawn Risotto

Servings: 4
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 30 mins approx
Difficulty: Easy
Rating: stars
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Credit: The Spaniard’s Kitchen

Ingredients

3 Tbs Virgin Olive Oil

2 Garlic Cloves, chopped

1 Spring Onion, Chopped

4 Tbs Tomato Sauce

500 grs Risotto Rice
Water as needed
1 Kg Mussels (already cleaned and in the shell)
12 King Prawn
2 Tsp Virgin Olive Oil
Chopped Parsley
Salt to Taste

Directions

1. Put the clean mussels in a pot of water (enough to cover them), cover and bring to the boil.
2. Once they open you can remove them from the pot so they don’t over cook. Don’t throw away the water from the cooking as we will be using it.
3. Put olive oil on a deep pot, heat up and add the spring onions (if you don’t have spring onions you can use onions) and then add the garlic. Cook until soft.
4. Add the rice and mix.
5. Then follow with the tomato sauce, mix and add salt, mix.
6. Once this is done, start adding the liquid from cooking the mussels, slowly. Mix. Let it get absorbed before adding some more and continue adding and mixing until you don’t need any more water. Then let it cook between 15 to 20 minutes.
7. On the meantime, take the mussels and prawns out of the shell and add them to the rice. Mix.
8. Add parsley and check if it needs any more salt. If so, add it now.
9. Let it cook for a few minutes. The prawns will not take long to cook.
10. Once the prawns are cooked, take off the heat, drizzle with olive oil, mix and let it rest for a minute.
11. Serve hot and enjoy!