Rice Fisherman Style
Region: Italy
Category: Rice, Couscous, and Other Grains
Season: Any
Difficulty: Easy

This fisherman’s style rice is an exquisite dish with its specks of saffron and sprinkling of parsley is a treat for the eye as well as the palate.  Preparing the seafood will take 12 to 15 minutes and the cooking time is another 12 to 15 minutes.  Buy cleaned squid to save time. Notice this recipe is not a risotto but just cooked rice with seafood, meaning the rice is rinsed and cooked without stirring.

[photo: Clifford A. Wright]

Yield: Makes 2 to 4 servings
Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Pinch of saffron, crumbled slightly

1 1/3 cup tepid water

2 tablespoons finely chopped onion

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/3 cups short grain rice (Arborio), rinsed in a strainer

6 ounces defrosted shrimp, shelled

6 ounces sea scallops, cut in half

2 medium squid bodies, cleaned and sliced into rings

1 teaspoon salt

2 dried red chiles

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. In a small bowl, soak the saffron in the tepid water until needed. 

2. In a heavy, 2-quart saucepan with a heavy lid, heat the olive oil over high heat, then cook the onion, garlic and parsley until soft, about 2 minutes.  Add the rice and cook for 1 minute, stirring.  Add the shrimp, scallops, squid, and salt and cook for 1 minute, stirring

3. Add the saffron and water, chiles, and black pepper and bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce the heat to low and cover.  Cook until the rice is tender and the water absorbed, about 12 minutes.  If the rice is still hard, add some boiling water and continue cooking until tender.  Serve immediately.

Variation: 

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Posted: 12/28/2006