Poached 'cannelloni' of skate with pea risotto, asparagus and morels

Poached 'cannelloni' of skate with pea risotto, asparagus and morel mushrooms

Ingredients

For the risotto

300ml/10fl oz vegetable stock
1 tbsp olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
300g/10oz risotto rice
175ml/6fl oz white wine
400g/14oz shelled garden peas
400ml/14fl oz double cream
200g/7oz parmesan, freshly grated
2 tbsp finely chopped chives
2 tbsp finely chopped flatleaf parsley

For the skate
1x 500g/1lb 2oz skate wing, skinned both sides
1 x bunch asparagus, stem trimmed and lower buds discarded
50g/2oz butter
6 small morel mushrooms
1 handful baby spinach leaves
½ lemon, juice only
1 x punnet pea shoots
1 x punnet purple cress

METHOD
1.For the risotto, place the vegetable stock into a saucepan and warm through.

2.Heat a frying pan until medium hot, add the oil, shallots and garlic and gently fry without browning. Add the rice to the pan and gently stir.

3.Add the white wine and cook until reduced by half.

4.Gradually add the vegetable stock, a little at a time as the rice starts to cook, adding more as each ladleful is absorbed, until the rice is cooked and all the vegetable stock has been absorbed.

5.Blend the peas in a food processor until they become a purée.

6.When the risotto rice is nearly cooked, remove from the heat and add the double cream and a few good spoonfuls of the pea purée.

7.Add the grated parmesan, check the seasoning, then stir in the chopped herbs.

8.Meanwhile for the skate, gently remove the skate meat off the bone with a sharp filleting knife and lay onto a piece of cling film. Season with a little salt and roll as tightly as possible.

9.Bring a pan of water to the boil, add the skate parcel and simmer for about eight minutes until the skate is just cooked through.

10.Remove the skate from the water, then add the asparagus to the same water and cook for two minutes until nearly tender.

11.Drain the asparagus and pat dry.

12.Heat a frying pan until medium hot, add the butter and asparagus and sauté with the fresh morels and the leaf spinach for a minute.

13.Gently unwrap the skate wing and drizzle with some fresh lemon juice.

14.To serve, spoon the risotto into the centre of a serving bowl and sit the skate cannelloni on top. Arrange the asparagus, morels and spinach around the skate and garnish with the pea shoots and cress and serve straight away.