Preparation time:
- 30mins
Cooking time:
- 30mins
Specialty:
- Dairy-free
- Gluten-free
- Pescatarian
This our fusion take on a classic Italian Risotto. We have prepared the Risotto with Octopus following the Italian traditional steps and we have added some Asian ingredients like dried scallops, chili-infused sesame oil and sesame seeds. Dried scallops are great ingredients to enhance the seafood flavors, while the sesame oil and the sesame seeds perfectly balance the acidity of the dish.
Ingredients (2 Servings):
- 180g Riso Acquerello or Carnaroli or Vialone Nano
- 3-4 Octopus Tentacles
- 1 Green Onion
- 1/2 Cup of Dried Scallops
- Extra-virgin Olive Oil
- Sea Salt
- Black Pepper
- Black Sesame Seeds
- Organic Sesame Oil
- Red Chili Flakes
- 1 Clove of Garlic
- Fresh Rosemary
- Fresh Thyme
Instructions:
- Soak the dried scallops into freshly boiled water for 25-30mins. Drain the scallops and break them up with your hands. Keep the water as it will be used as fish broth for the Risotto.
- Season the octopus tentacles with fresh thyme, fresh rosemary, 1 clove of garlic, black pepper and extra-virgin olive oil. The octopus is naturally salty and there's no need to add extra salt.
- Steam the octopus for 10 mins. Once cooked, remove the excess broth and pour it in a saucepan. Add the scallops' water to the saucepan. Turn up the fire and maintain low heat.
- Pre-heat 2 tablespoons of sesame oil and add red chili.
- Finely slice a green onion and simmer it with extra-virgin olive oil.
- Once the oil is warm and the spring onion starts to sizzle, add the rice and toast it for a couple of minutes.
- Start pouring small amounts of the broth in the pan with the rice and continue stirring. Keep doing this for three quarters of the rice cooking time.
- Add the dried scallops to the rice while cooking.
- Continue stirring the rice for a couple of minutes, adding broth to prevent the rice from sticking to the pot. The rice usually needs to cook 15-18mins in total. Add the tentacles into the rice 3-4mins before the rice is ready. Stir the rice with the tentacles and mix all together.
- Make sure you add the right amount of broth to make the risotto creamy (and not brothy or overcooked). Season with freshly ground black pepper.
- Once the risotto is finally cooked, drizzle some chili-infused sesame oil on top and add black sesame seeds.