Name: Portuguese seafood rice
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Portuguese
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

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

step 1
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.
step 2
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.