Chorizo and tiger prawn risotto
Ingredients:
= 150 gr chorizo sausages
= 400 gr raw giant tiger prawns with shells
= 350 gr Italian arborio rice
= 450 gr tin red kidney beans
= 1 large Spanish onion, peeled
= 1 clove garlic, peeled
= 1/2 x 0.4 gr jar saffron threads
= 175 ml olive oil
= 1/2 level teaspoon chrust dried chillies
= 1 fish stock cube
= 150 ml dry white wine
= 25 gr butter
= spring fresh basil or 1 tablespoon snipped fresh chives
= salt and freshly ground black pepper.
You need a heavy-sided pan diameter of about 11in (28cm) and a depth of 2 1/2in (6cm)
Methods:
1. Finely chop the onion and garlic and set aside. Cut and discard the ends of chorizo sausages, then slice them into 1/4in (5mm) pieces and set aside. Place the saffron threads in a small bowl, along with 1-tablespoon of boiling water, and leave to soak while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
2. To peel the prawns, remove the shells-leaving the small tails attached to the bodies- and put them in a small bowl. cut down the back of each prawn, remove any black thread and discard. Then wash the prawns under cold running water, pat dry with kitchen towel and set aside. Now rinse the red kidney beans under cold running water, dain and reserve.
3. To flavour the olive oil, heat 150 ml in the heavy pan, add the prawn shells and half the crushed dried chillies and cook over a high heat, stirring constantly, until the shells turn pink-about 2 minutes. Empty the contents of the pan into a strainer over a bowl, discard the shells and chillies and return the flavoured oil to the pan. Add the prawns to the oil and saute until pink, then remove and reserve.
4. Add the chopped onion, garlic and remaining crushed dried chillies and saute for about 5-minutes, until the onion and garlic start to become translucent, then add the sliced chorizo sausages and cook for further 2 minutes.
5. Crumble the stock cbe into a large measuring jug and pour 2 pints (1.2 litres) of boiling water over, stirring thoroughly.
To prepare Risotto, add the the rice to the pan with the onions, garlic and chorizo sausages and cook over a moderate heat for 2 minutes, stirring so that every grain is coated with the oil. Add the wine and let it sizzle away for 30 seconds, then add the soaking saffron threads (with their water) and enough of the stock to just cover the rice-about 275 ml. Simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the rice has absorbed most of the stock, then add another 150 ml of the stock and simmer again until absorbed.
Continue cooking in this way until the rice is just tender and all the stock has been used-which should take about 25 minutes in all. Do not walk away from the risotto at this point as you don't want the pan to dry out and the rice to burn.
6. To finish, heat the remaining olive oil over a high heat in a medium-sized frying pan, add the drained red kidney beans and saute for 1-minute, until heated through. Add the cooked, reserved prawns, cook for a further minute, then season. Stir those into the rice, along with the butter, and mix thoroughly. Transfer to a heated serving dish, decorate with a sprig of basil or snipped chives and serve immediately.
