Crab and Leek Risotto

This recipe made a ton of risotto! It was pretty good--I'd never made risotto before but overall it was relatively easy to do. I bought a can of crab claws to make this recipe, which was pricey but a cheaper option as opposed to getting fresh crab, but it's probably better fresh.

I served this as an appetizer for a rosemary lemon chicken and asparagus main course. It's best the first day, and was pretty fun to make.

Crab and Leek Risotto
Recipe from Alyssa and Carla

5 cups chicken stock
½ cup white wine
1 cup thinly sliced leeks (white and light green parts only)
1.5 cups of risotto rice, such as Arborio or Carnaroli
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
8 oz fresh crab meat
Parmesan cheese and parmesan rinds (optional)
Lemon zest from about ½ lemon
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the stock and wine in a medium sauce pan. Bring to a simmer.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of butter and the olive oil over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add the leeks, a sprinkle of salt and a few cracks of fresh pepper to the pan. Sauté until the leeks begin to get tender but before they start to brown. Add the rice and sauté the grains become translucent.

Using a ladle, add one scoop of the stock mixture at a time to the rice. Stir thoroughly until the stock is absorbed. Repeat until the rice is cooked through but don’t let it get mushy. This will take about 20-30 minutes. If you have parmesan rinds, add them to the rice after about 10 minutes of cooking.

Remove from the heat.

Reserve a few larger pieces of crab meat to garnish the plates. Add the crab meat, half of the lemon zest, half of the parsley and the remaining tablespoon of butter to the pan. Stir gently to incorporate. Add parmesan, salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish the dishes with the remaining lemon zest and parsley and the reserved crab meat.

Seafood Paella

SO. MUCH. FOOD. It was pretty good. A maleable recipe. I had to add a lot more spices etc to it, but I didn't use the best stock or anything so maybe that was why. I pretty much used the recipe as a guide of what to add, and could have definitely used fresher and better seafood, but used the frozen mix at Trader Joe's since it's a decent deal.

This was very easy to make, and a great dish if you're too busy to cook for the rest of the week and don't mind eating lots of leftovers!

Seafood Paella
Recipe from Abbe's Cooking Antics

1 tbsp olive oil
1 leek - chopped
1 red bell pepper - deseeded and chopped
1 clove garlic - crushed
3.5 oz/100g spanish chorizo sausage - chopped
1 tsp turmeric
10.5oz/300g long grain rice
2 tbsp cherry tomato paste/puree
1 ltr hot fish stock
5oz/150g frozen petit pois peas
14oz/400g frozen cooked seafood mix - defrosted

Heat the oil in the pan, cook the leek, pepper and garlic for 5 mins. Add the chorizo and fry until it releases its oils. Stir in the turmeric and rice and coat with the oil.

Add the tomato paste and stir it through the rice. Pour in the fish stock. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 15 mins, stirring occasionally.

Add the peas and cook for 5 mins, then stir in the seafood to heat through for a final couple of minutes cooking. Remember the seafood has already been cooked and will turn rubbery if you over heat it.