This delicious Italian recipe requires patience and a little magic to conjure a creamy, tender risotto from dry grains.

1. Rinse fresh blue mussels in tap water.
2. Steam the mussels open with a little white wine in a pan covered with a tight-fitting lid. As they open, remove them to a bowl and reserve the liquor. Once cool, remove the mussels from the shells and set aside while the risotto cooks.
3. In a heavy-based pot, gently cook the onions and garlic in butter until very soft and pale golden.
4. Add the rice and stir until the grains are well coated. Now add the saffron threads and half-cup of wine and cook, stirring until the wine has almost completely bubbled down.
5. Add the liquor from the mussels and continue until the rice is almost finished.
6. Add the mussels just at the end to warm through.
7. Finish with the chopped parsley, butter and parmesan.

The single most important thing to remember when making a risotto is that it's all about restraint. Gently does it with the heat - a steady ticking over is all that is required. Use small ladlefuls of hot stock and go easy on the flavours - the extra ingredients are there to flavour the rice, not to poke out of the mound in lumpy competition. That goes too for the last-minute addition of the parmesan and butter.

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