When we had a flat in Venice, I used to go every morning on a pilgrimage by gondola-ferry across the Canal Grande from Ca’ d’Oro to the Rialto market. The Rialto market is a sight that should not be missed by anyone visiting Venice. It stretches along a few calli (alleys) and campielli (squares), around the bridge and along the Canal Grande. For the tourists there are stalls selling lace and tablecloths, and others selling bags, wallets and purses, but for the Venetians there are stalls piled high with the choicest fruits and the greatest selection of vegetables you have ever seen, as well as fish stalls with crawling crustaceans and slender silvery fish, so many different species and kinds that you can spend the morning in a study of ichthyology. But then, standing there, entranced by the sheer abundance and variety of it all, I would be reminded by the jostlings of more down-to-earth Venetian housewives that I had a lunch to cater for.
After searching for whatever looked best, I would finish up, as often as not, giving in to my longing for seafood, and would return home with bags of molluscs for lunch and dinner. In the tradition of the local cuisine, rice would be the natural accompaniment to the seafood.
Serves 4
1.35 kg (3 lb) mussels
200 ml (7 fl oz) dry white wine
6 tbsp olive oil
3 shallots or 1 medium onion, very finely chopped
sea salt
1 litre (1 3/4 pints) light fish stock (here) or vegetable stock (here)
1 celery stalk, with the leaves if possible
1 garlic clove
300 g Arborio, or other Italian risotto rice
4 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
black pepper
Clean the mussels following the instructions here.
Put the wine in a large sauté or frying pan, add the mussels and cover the pan. Cook over a high heat until the mussels are open, which will take only 3 or 4 minutes. Shake the pan every now and then.
As soon as the mussels are open, remove the meat from the shells and discard the shells. Do not force the mussels open or the muscle around them will break and they will lose their shape and look messy. Strain the cooking liquid through a sieve lined with muslin, pouring it slowly and gently so that most of the sand and debris is left at the bottom of the pan.
Pour the oil into a wide heavy saucepan, add the shallots or onion and a pinch of salt, and sauté until they are soft and just beginning to colour.
Heat the stock to simmering point and keep it just simmering all through the cooking.
While the shallots are cooking, chop the celery and garlic together and then add to the pan. Sauté for a further minute or so.
Now add the rice and, as we say in Italian, tostatelo – ‘toast’ it in the oil, turning it over and over for a couple of minutes. Pour over the mussel liquid and stir well. When the liquid has been absorbed add the rest of the stock, one ladleful at a time. Stir very frequently. When the rice is done, draw the pan off the heat, stir in the mussels and the parsley, and season with salt, if necessary, and with plenty of black pepper. Transfer to a heated dish and serve immediately.
preparation
The mussels can be cleaned and opened up to 1 day in advance. They must be kept in the refrigerator. The risotto should be made just before serving. However, you can half cook the risotto, up to the point when you have added the first ladleful of stock. Bring to the boil, stir, and turn off the heat. Cover the pan tightly. The risotto can now be left until you want to finish the dish. When you come back to it you will find the risotto already half cooked, having absorbed all the stock. Stir in a knob of butter and continue cooking, gradually adding the remaining stock. The risotto will not be quite so perfectly cooked, but on the other hand you won’t have to be banished to the kitchen by yourself for so long, and resent the making ot it.