Ingredients

• 4 cups (1 litre) chicken stock
• pinch of saffron threads
• 40g butter
• 1 medium red onion, finely chopped
• 300g Arborio rice
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan or Pecorino cheese
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 32 small green lipped mussels, scrubbed and debearded

Method

Heat the chicken stock in a small saucepan until simmering. Crush the saffron threads and add to the stock. Melt the butter in a saucepan and gently cook the onion until tender, add the rice and stir to coat the grains with butter. Add 3 cups of the stock, bring to the boil and reduce back to a simmer, cover and cook on a very low heat for 15 minutes, stir once during cooking and add the remaining stock if needed. Continue to cook until the grains are just tender.  Stir through grated cheese. Meanwhile place the mussels in a saucepan with a little water, cover and steam over a medium heat until they open.  Discard any that don't open. Serve the risotto topped with the mussels.