Jumping fish

Risotto with mussels and fennel

  • 4 persons
  • cooking time: 50 minuten
  • difficulty

Ingredients

  • FOR THE FISH BROTH:
  • white fish bones, washed until the water remains clear
  • 1 onion, coarsely cut
  • 1 leek, only the white, coarsely sliced
  • 2 stalks of celery, coarsely chopped
  • 1 bol knoflook
  • 20 peppercorns
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 3 sprigs of parsley
  • 1 branch thyme
  • FOR THE RISOTTO:
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 onion, finely diced
  • 53 -ounce fresh mussels, ready to eat
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1/2 teasel. dried chili flakes
  • 2 teasel. fennel seed, crushed
  • 1 fennel tuber, one half crushed into small cubes and the other half finely shaved
  • 2 stengels uit het hart van de bleekselderij
  • 4 ripe tomatoes, without the core, coarsely chopped
  • 7-ounce risotto rice
  • salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1/2 bunch of flat parsley, coarsely chopped
  • juice of 1 lemon

How to prepare

This delicious risotto with seafood is rich and creamy, but also contains some acid for a good taste balance. The thinly shaved fennel added at the last moment provides extra texture.

Preparation

  • 1 Make the broth first. Put all ingredients in a pan, pour over with cold water and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and let the stock infuse for 20 minutes. Regularly spoon off the foam with a soup spoon. The stock must be sweet and clear and not bitter and cloudy.
  • 2 Then make the risotto. Heat a large pan with a firm flat base on high heat. When it is hot, put in oil and half the onion. Braise it for 1 minute. Put the mussels, white wine and 1 soup ladle of broth in the pan and put a lid on it. Cook the mussels on high heat; shake the pan a few times so that they boil evenly and take them off the heat when the shells are open. Discard any closed shells.
  • 3 Pour the mussels into a colander and collect the cooking liquid.
  • 4 Rub the garlic, chili flakes and fennel seeds in a mortar with a pestle to puree. Heat some oil in the pan and fry the garlic puree for 2 minutes until it smells. Add the cubes of fennel, celery and remaining onion and braise everything for 10-12 minutes on low heat.
  • 5 Meanwhile, take three quarters of the mussels out of the shells. The rest of the mussels serve as garnish for the risotto. Heat the collected cooking liquid in a pan.
  • 6 Put the chopped tomatoes and rice in the pan with vegetables and stir until each grain of rice is greasy. Line a fine sieve with a cheese cloth and sieve the mussel cooking liquid. As soon as all the moisture has been absorbed by the rice, add the sieved mussel cooking liquid and keep stirring until it is absorbed. Then add a spoonful of hot stock each time. Cook the rice for about 20 minutes, until it is al dente.
  • 7 Put the mussels and shaved slices of raw fennel in a pan. Mix most of the chopped parsley and lemon juice with the risotto. Garnish with the rest of the parsley and the fennel green.