Leek risotto with lemon fish

Whilst leafing through one of my new cook books this morning looking for some inspiration for dinner, I asked Jo what she had in mind, when she said fish I was very pleased as I had been thinking I’d like to cook risotto and rice is a perfect accompaniment to go with fish.  A few pages into the book later and I had found the perfect recipe, leek risotto with lemon fish, it was perfect because it not only combined the two ingredients we wanted, but it was doable in a little over 35 minutes, the perfect dish for a Thursday night. 

The fact I had all but one ingredient in the house was also a big plus, the missing ingredient being a leek, I knew would be easy to source, so need to go out of our way to any speciality shops, although as it turned out there was a small catch in the end, as the shop I chose to go to now has a new shoe shop next door and whilst I did use a little will power and walked straight past on my way to the grocery store, I could not resist having a little peek on my way back.  I now have a lovely new pair of shoes, well they are boots in fact, at least I got out of it reasonably well, last time this happened I had Jo with me, we were going for coffee, 4 pairs of shoes and $600.00 later, well that was an expensive coffee!

The star ingredient tonight though, was the fish, and that was in fact a beautiful fillet of shark, Bronzy, I think the chap that gave it to Jo said it was, whatever, it was top quality, had been caught and preserved by someone that knew what they were doing when it came to fish, outstanding product and one that was perfect for our dinner.

Leek Risotto

200ml white wine

5 cups stock, vegetable or chicken

2 tbl spn olive oil

1 very large leek, or 3 very small, sliced

2 cups arborio rice

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tbl spn lemon juice

cracked black pepper

Lemon fish

60g butter

2 teaspoons shredded lemon rind

2 tbl spn chopped parsley

4 x 180g firm white fish fillets

2 tbl spn lemon juice

Method

Place stock in saucepan on medium heat and bring to a steady simmer

Heat oil in pan and add leeks, cook until golden, about 6 minutes

Add the rice, stir in well and cook for 1 minute

Add the wine, cook until all wine has been absorbed, then add a ladle of hot stock, let that cook until totally absorbed before adding another ladle of stock, continue until rice is tender, soft and creamy.

Add the Parmesan and lemon juice and mix in well.

To make the fish, heat the butter, lemon rind and parsley in a pan over medium to high heat, add the fish and cook for 2 minutes on each side, or until tender

add the lemon juice.

Serve rice in a bowl with fish on top, add a little more Parmesan and parsley.

Bon apetito