Ingredients
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 sticks celery, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 6 large cloves garlic, bashed but left whole
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp paprika (not smoked)
- ½ tsp dried chilli flakes
- 4 tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped
- 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- 1 tsp caster or granulated sugar
- 100g risotto rice
- 750g mussels, cleaned
- 200g large raw peeled king prawns, defrosted if frozen
- half a small bunch oregano, chopped
- half a small bunch flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped, including stalks
- 25g butter, diced
Method
- Cook the onion and celery in the oil in a casserole over a medium-high heat for 10 minutes or until softened. Add the garlic and bay leaves, and cook until the garlic is translucent. Stir in the paprika, chilli flakes, fresh tomatoes and a generous amount of seasoning. Add the tinned tomatoes and sugar with 1.5 litres of cold water, then stir and cover with a lid. After the liquid begins to simmer, reduce to a medium heat and allow to gently simmer for 45 minutes.
- Next add the rice, stir once and leave to cook for 15 minutes with the lid on. Adjust the seasoning, then add the mussels, stir well and cover with a lid again. Cook for 10 minutes or until all of the mussels have opened (discard any that haven’t). Adjust the liquid volume by adding a little more justboiled water if it seems a little dry, then add the prawns. Cook for 2 minutes with a lid on and then stir in the chopped oregano, parsley and butter, and serve in shallow bowls.