Serious Eats: Recipes
Cook the Book: Mussel Risotto
Today, mussels are one of the easiest types of seafood to prepare. Most varieties are cultivated on environmentally responsible farms and can be purchased squeaky clean, without a dead one in the bunch. But Simon Hopkinson, author of this week's Cook the Book selection, Second Helpings of Roast Chicken, remembers a time when "they were absolutely filthy...caked with the detritus of a million rock pools." While he is vaguely wistful for the "little blighters" he once spent so much time scrubbing, ultimately he is glad for the modern, ready-to-go mollusks.
For most risotto recipes Hopkinson prefers to cook with butter, but in this Mussel Risotto he uses olive oil and then adds just a pat of butter at the end "to slick it all together." According to him, this dish is a "savory slop of rice, mussels, and tomato."
Win 'Second Helpings of Roast Chicken'
In addition to excerpting a recipe from Simon Hopkinson's new book each day this week, we're also giving away five (5) copies. Enter to win here.