Since I really liked the flavor profile of a Portuguese dish I made of rice with lobster and clams (Arroz de lagosta), I thought it would be nice to turn it into a risotto. The Portugese arroz is much more soupy than risotto and made with regular rice, and I have replaced the cilantro with parsley (as Italians never use cilantro), and reduced the chilli, but otherwise it is pretty much the same dish. And as expected it came out great. It is certainly not a cheap dish (as both vongole and lobster are expensive) and quite a bit of work, but it is totally worth it.

Ingredients

For 3-4 servings as primo piatto

• lobster meat and lobster stock from this recipe
• 1 kilo (2.2 lbs) vongole or other small clams
• 250 grams (1 1/4 cup) risotto rice, such as Carnaroli or Arborio
• 200 ml dry white wine, divided (1/3 cup + 1/2 cup)
• 1 onion, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 120 ml (1/2 cup) sieved tomatoes or pureed canned tomatoes
• 60 grams (4 Tbsp) butter
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• 2 Tbsp minced fresh flat leaf parsley

Instructions

Prepare the lobster and lobster stock as per my recipe. If you don’t have sous vide equipment, simmer the lobster shells with the water for 20 minutes in a covered pot on the stovetop instead.

Mix 30 grams (4 teaspoons) fine table salt with 1 litre (4 quarts) of water until dissolved, then add the clams, and allow them to purge themselves for about 1 hour.

After that, rinse them well with clean cold water to remove the salt on the outside. Check for clams that remain open when they are in sweet water and discard them.

But the clams in a pan togeter with 120 ml (1/2 cup) of white wine. Cover and cook over high heat until the clams have opened.

Drain the clams and reserve the liquid.

Take most of the clams out of their shells, but leave some for decoration. Chop the lobster meat.

Pour the lobster stock into a saucepan and heat it up but do not let it boil. Keep it hot.

Filter the liquid retrieved from the clams (using a colander or sieve lined with kitchen paper), and bring it to boil. Allow to reduce to about half.

Heat 45 grams (3 Tbsp) butter in a wide, low, thick-bottomed pan. When the butter has melted, add the chopped onion.

Stir over medium heat until the onion is soft and slightly golden, about 10 minutes. Then add the minced clove of garlic and stir for another minute, making sure the garlic doesn’t color too much.

Add the rice.

Toast the rice over medium heat for a couple of minutes.

Deglaze with the remaining 80 ml (1/3 cup) white wine.

Stir over medium heat until the wine has evaporated.

Add 120 ml (1/2 cup) of pureed tomatoes, and stir until the liquid has been absorbed by the rice.

Add a ladle of lobster stock.

Stir until the lobster stock has been absorbed by the rice, then add another ladle of stock.

Keep stirring and adding ladles of stock until the rice is almost al dente, 16 to 18 minutes.

Alternate between lobster stock and clam liquid, making sure you keep some of both. If you run out of both, you can use hot water instead.

When the rice is almost done, add the lobster to the lobster stock, and leave it in the hot stock over low heat for a couple of minutes to heat it through (and to cook the raw lobster tail meat). Do not let the stock boil, as that would make the lobster tough and rubbery.

Put the clam meat in the clam liquid and leave it there for a couple of minutes over low heat to heat through. Again, do not let the liquid boil, as that would toughen the clam meat.

When the rice is al dente and all the liquid has been absorbed, add the clam meat with the liquid.

Add the lobster meat and lobster stock as well.

Stir to mix, then turn off the heat. The rice should be slightly soupy at this point.

Add 15 grams (1 Tbsp) of diced butter and 1 tablespoon of minced parsley, then stir until the butter has melted. Allow the risotto to rest for a couple of minutes, covered.

Pour a small amount of water into a saucepan and add the clams in their shells reserved for decoration.

Cover and bring to a boil, then turn off the heat and allow the clams to heat up for a minute or so.

Serve the risotto on preheated plates, garnished with the clams in their shells and remaining tablespoon of parsley.

Wine pairing

This will work with most unoaked dry but slightly fruity Italian white wines, such as Gavi, Soave, Verdicchio, Vermentino, Greco, or Fiano.