Mussel Risotto

 The Great Lent has begun and if you’re christian chances are you know what this is. Long story short, The Great Lent or The Great Fast officially begins on Clean Monday, seven weeks before Pascha ( Easter ) and runs for 40 contiguous days. It has its religion-related purposes, but personally I do it to feel better with myself, to eat healthier (most of the time), to eat mostly vegan meals (if you’re interested in knowing the benefits of eating vegan you can look it up by yourself, because I don’t want to force & influence anyone) and to expend my taste palette by trying new recipes. 

The foods abstained from are meat, fish, eggs and dairy products, wine, and oil. According to some traditions, only olive oil is abstained from; in others, all vegetable oils. In my house we use all kinds of vegetable oils including olive oil, except the last week of the Lent. So basically you have to eat vegan, but with some exceptions such as: mussels, prawns, squid and cuttlefish. (because these don’t have blood) I mentioned the vegan part because many vegan recipes are coming up soon.

On my instagram @eatwithsteff I posted a poll asking what recipe I should post first and you voted for  „Mussel Risotto“, so here you go. 

Ingredients: 

1 medium leek 

1 medium zucchini 

280 gr white rise (rinsed)

300 gr mussels 

4-5 tbsp olive oil 

1 vegetable bouillon (homemade or store bought) 

1/2 tsp saffron 

2-3 tbsp chopped cilantro (+for garnishing) 

salt & pepper 

Preparation: 

Firstly chop the leek and the zucchini, but do not mix them together, because they have different preparation timing. 

Heat the pan and put some olive oil. Once the oil is ready and properly heated add the chopped leek to the pan and let it release all its flavors. 

After a couple of minutes add the rinsed white rise to the pan to let it absorb the flavors. Meanwhile bring about a liter of water to a boil and add the vegetable bouillon in it. 

When the rise & leek mixture has gotten to a golden color, it’s the right time to add the mussels. 

Sauté it for 4-5 minutes and then add the chopped zucchini to the pan. Let the ingredients exchange flavors for 6-7 minutes and start adding little by little the bouillon water. Keep in mind that you should add it one cup at a time and then let the rise absorb it all. 

Continue adding the bouillon water until it’s done + don’t forget to add the saffron, cilantro, salt & pepper, but be careful, because you don’t want to make it really salty (the bouillon cube can sometimes be really salty). Try it with no salt at first and then add if needed. 

Let it sit for a couple of minutes and then serve it with some more cilantro on top. 

ENJOY ♥️