The recipe for a creamy Lemon Risotto with Red Mullet filets

Level: Intermediate
Total time: 45min

I just love risotto! In all possible variants. This is one of my favorites though. The tanginess of the lemon, with the creaminess from the parmesan and mascarpone together with the tender and tasty Red Mullet, is just divine. Serve it with a glass of dry white wine and you get a gourmet meal to remember.

THE TIPS TO SUCCEED

1: Make sure you don’t overcook the rice. You want the grains to be al dente. If overcooked the risotto gets more like a pudding…

2: Keep the Bouillon hot, close to boiling. If not you will stop the cooking process of your rice every time you add it to the rice

2: If you are serving it when you have guests, please be aware that a Risotto cannot sit and wait… It has to be served straight away to keep its texture. So it requires your presence in the kitchen while the guests wait or join you with a glass 🙂

Let’s get started

Ingredients

• 4-5 tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 tbsp Butter
• 12 pcs Red Mullet filets
• 300 g Arborio Rice
• 2 pcs Shallot onion
• 2 pcs Garlic clove
• 1 psc Lemon
• 1 pcs Courgette
• 100 ml White wine
• 1 L Shellfish Bouillon (Or alternatively Vegetable Bouillon)
• 50 g Parmesan
• 75-100 g Mascarpone
• Salt and Pepper
• Dill

How to do it

Start by chopping finely the Shallots and Garlic. Zest the lemon and press its juice. Then cut the Courgette in tiny pieces (same size as your chopped shallots)

Clean and dry the Red Mullet, make sure no pin bones are left

Prepare the Shellfish Bouillon and keep it warm, close to boiling.

Put the Olive oil to heat in a stewpan and fry the Shallots and Garlic on medium/low heat to soften them for around 5 minutes. Add the rice and increase the heat a bit. Your rice should start getting transparent.

Deglace with the white wine and half of the lemon juice and cook until allmost absorbed

Add bouillon to cover the rice and boil over low heat, turn now and then. Make sure the rice doesn’t stick to the pan. Add regularly more of the bouillon without letting the rice dry out between each time. Keep doing this until your rice is al dente. There should still be a little bit of resistance in the rice when you bite it. It should cook approx 20 minutes but it depends on your rice.

When the risotto has been cooking for around 15 minutes, fry the Red Mullets. Heat the butter in a pan and fry the filets with the skin down for 2 minutes and then 30 seconds to 1 minute on the other side.

Add the Courgette and half the Lemon zest into the rice towards the end of the cooking time. If you run out of bouillon, you can use hot water.

So when your rice is al dente and the last liquid you added has reduced, add grated parmesan and the mascarpone with salt and pepper to taste. Add more zest and lemon juice if needed

How to serve the creamy Lemon Risotto with Red Mullet

Serve the Risotto in individual deep plates with 3 filets of Red Mullet on top and spread thin cuts of parmesan and dill to taste