Food Porn: Sea Bass with Tomato Risotto

I do feel a bit sorry for T sometimes. I regularly force him to be my guinea pig or make him eat food that he has previously expressed a strong dislike for. 

Take risotto; T dislikes risotto as T dislikes rice. Or so he thought. Because I've fed it to him so frequently now he's changed his mind. T now likes risotto, but T still dislikes rice. Odd. 

 I'm not sure whether this is because he has genuinely had a rice epiphany or he's just trying to keep me happy so that I'll cook him more beef. 

Anyway, pan fried sea bass fillets with a tomato risotto anyone? 

Ingredients for two portions: 

2 sea bass fillets, de-boned

80g of arborio rice

500ml of chicken stock; I used a Kallo cube which is gluten free

100g of tinned chopped tomatoes with juice

1/2 a small white onion, finely diced

1 clove of garlic, crushed

2 tbsps of creme fraiche

30g of parmesan, finely grated

1 handful of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped 

The rind of 1/2 a lemon, finely grated

1 small glass of white wine

Olive oil

Salt and pepper 

1 small knob of butter

Firstly cook the onion and garlic in olive oil and the butter on a medium heat until softened but not coloured. Add the white wine and simmer for a couple of minutes until the alcohol has cooked away. 

Add the rice and cook for a couple of minutes until the rice begins to appear translucent, then add the tomatoes with the juice and simmer until the juice has been soaked up by the rice. Then begin adding the hot stock a little at a time, stirring occasionally, until the rice has cooked al dente; this will take 12-15 minutes. Finish by adding the parsley, lemon rind, creme fraiche, seasoning, and parmesan and stirring well to combine. If the risotto feels a bit stiff, add a little more creme fraiche. 

Season the sea bass fillets and then heat a little olive oil in a frying or saute pan; when hot add the fillets skin side down. Cook on a medium heat for 3 minutes, then turn and cook for a further 3 minutes on the flesh side. 

Serve the risotto on a plate then add the sea bass fillet on top. Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil over the fish and around the plate to finish off.