Risotto dello Zafferano con il Calamaro ed i Pettini

For her birthday, my beautiful Angel, Clare, wanted me to make her a special dinner.  I had thought about a  lot of dishes that I wanted to make for her, but, I ultimately decided to make a special version of the Seafood Risotto recipe.  For this risotto, I chose to use saffron, along with squid and scallops.  

The recipe is basically the same as the Seafood Risotto recipe.  The only difference is that I only used the squid and scallops.  The key is to make sure that all the scallops are the same size and that the pieces of squid are about the same size.  This make sure that the seafood cooks evenly. 

RISOTTO DELLO ZAFFERANO CON IL CALAMARO ED I PETTINI
A Chef Bolek Original
Serves 4

Ingredients:
4 cups of seafood stock
2 cups of water
1/2 cup of white wine
1 pinch of saffron
1/2 pound of cleaned squid (both bodies and tentacles)
1/2 pound of scallops
1 1/2 cups of arborio rice
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 sweet or Vidalia onion, minced
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of butter
Oregano, to taste
Salt, to taste
Parsley, chopped
Several leaves of basil
Parmigiano Reggiano, grated

Directions:

1.  In a pot, heat the seafood stock and water to a simmer.  Keep stock warm over low heat.

2.  In another pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic.  Saute the onion and garlic for about 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the rice and stir the rice so that the rice is covered by the olive oil.  Add the white wine and cook until the wine is almost absorbed, stirring often for a couple of minutes.

3.  Stir in 1 cup of warm stock and the pinch of saffron.  Simmer slowly and stir often until the liquid is almost absorbed.  Adjust the heat of necessary so that the stock does not evaporate too quickly.

4.  Continue adding stock either by 1/2 cup or 1 cup amounts, stirring continuously until the stock is absorbed.  When there is about 1 cup of stock left, add the scallops and stir with another 1/2 cup of stock.

5.  By this time, the rice should be creamy in consistency and cooked al dente (firm to the bite) and seafood should be partially cooked.  Slice the bodies of the squid into pieces that are roughly the same size.  Add the squid  and cook for a couple of minutes until it is opaque.  Remove from heat, add butter and stir well.  Also add pepper to taste.

6.  Serve in bowls. Place a couple of basil leaves on the risotto and sprinkle some of the parsley over the risotto.  Also, sprinkle grated Parmigiano Reggiano if desired.

ENJOY!