Here We Go a-Musseling

This week's Resolution Recipe: Rice with Mussels... For Science in the Kitchen!

Put the clams (see end) on the fire with enough water to cook the rice. When the clams pop open, remove the shells and save the water. Prepare a soffritto with olive oil, garlic, one small onion, parsley, one carrot, and celery. Mince everything as fine as possible with a mezzaluna. When the ingredients are sufficiently browned, throw in the shelled clams, a few pieces of dried mushroom previously soaked in water, a pinch of pepper, and some of the water you have reserved. After a few minutes, throw in the rice and cook thoroughly, adding the rest of the water.

Taste to see if the natural salt of the clams and the spices you have added have given it enough flavor. If not, add tomato sauce or tomato paste, and also some butter and a pinch of Parmesan cheese.

Instead of clams, you can use other varieties of shellfish such as mussels, as is done in Venice, where, if restaurants followed this recipe to cook rice with mussels (a specialty of that town), the results would be much improved.
-Pellegrino Artusi, Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well (1891)

Got to love that slam on Venice.( Read more... )