Chicken Lemon and Thyme Risotto

Chicken Lemon and Thyme Risotto

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, skinless and cut into small stir-fry pieces

350g easy cook risotto rice

1L chicken stock

15g butter

2 leeks, trimmed and sliced

15ml olive oil

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

15ml fresh thyme, chopped or 7.5ml dried thyme

Grated zest and juice of half a lemon

25g grated Parmesan cheese

Method:

Put the rice and stock in a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Cook uncovered, stirring frequently, for about 15 minutes or until the stock has been absorbed and the risotto has a thick, soupy consistency.

While the rice is cooking, melt the butter in a non-stick frying pan. Add the leeks and cook for 5 minutes until tender then remove to a plate and set aside.

Pour the olive oil into the frying pan, season the chicken with salt and pepper and fry over medium-high heat for 5-6 minutes or until cooked through and golden brown.

When the rice is ready, stir in the thyme, lemon zest and juice. Mix in the leeks and chicken, followed by the Parmesan cheese. Check the seasoning before serving the risotto in warmed bowls.

Spring Vegetable Risotto

If you're needing an energy boost, this vegetable risotto is just the ticket. It's bound to lift the lethargy and is incredibly filling as it's high in fibre and is crammed with long lasting energy givers. Just what the Dr ordered!

Ingredients:
1 litre vegetable stock
100g asparagus tips
100g baby carrots, halved lengthwise
200g fresh young peas, shelled
500g baby broad beans, shelled
30ml olive oil
2 baby leeks, thinly sliced
300g risotto rice
15ml pesto
freshly ground black pepper
25g toasted pine nuts

Method:
Bring the stock to the boil in a large saucepan, then reduce the heat and add the asparagus tips, carrots, peas and broad beans. Simmer for 4-5 minutes, or until tender.
Remove the vegetables with a slotted spoon and set aside. Keep the stock simmering over gentle heat.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the leeks. Stir-fry for 2 minutes o medium heat, or until they are bright green, then stir in the rice.
Add about 50ml stock and cook gently, stirring until the liquid is absorbed. Continue adding stock, a little at a time and stirring regularly for about 20 minutes, until the mixture is soupy and the grains of rice are tender, but still have a slight bite.
Stir in the pesto and season with freshly ground black pepper. Gently stir in the reserved vegetables and cook for a further few minutes, or until the vegetables are heated through.
Serve sprinkled with the toasted pine nuts.

Courgette Leek and Spinach Risotto

Risotto is a dish whose origins lie with the poorer working classes of Italy. Originally, it was just rice cooked in a broth with whatever other ingredients were available and was used as a means of a cheap stomach filler. This was definitely not a dish favoured or eaten by the nobility. It only began to appear on the tables of the upper classes during the 19th century when the method of toasting the grains before slowly adding hot liquid was more widely practiced and a national dish was born.

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Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

½ leek, finely chopped

Pinch chilli flakes

1 courgette, diced

200g arborio risotto rice

1 x 125ml glass white wine

150ml hot chicken stock

75g spinach, roughly chopped

25g butter

salt and freshly ground black pepper

fresh chives, to garnish

method:

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan with a lid, add the leek and chilli flakes and fry gently until softened. Add the courgette and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the rice and cook, stirring frequently, for 1-2 minutes, or until the rice turns translucent.

Add the wine, turn up the heat and boil for 1-2 minutes. Add the stock one ladleful at a time and stir continuously until all the stock has been absorbed and the rice is cooked.

Stir in the spinach and the butter, remove from the heat, cover and set aside for a few minutes. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

To serve, place the risotto into serving bowls and garnish with the chives.

Pea and Gorgonzola Risotto

Risotto can be so delicious, especially when combined

with the sweet flavour of early-season peas from the garden.

Vary the flavour of this dish by adding asparagus or baby broad beans.

Instead of Gorgonzola,

use a grated strong Cheddar cheese or a crumbly Stilton or other flavoursome English cheese.

Ingredients:
225g shelled garden peas
30ml olive oil
50g butter
1 onion, finely chopped
350g Arborio rice
150ml dry white wine
1 litre vegetable stock
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to season
50g Gorgonzola cheese,crumbled or cut into small cubes
30ml chopped fresh parsley

To Garnish:
Olive oil
Parmesan cheese shavings

Method:
Blanch the peas for a minute or two in boiling water, drain through a colander and rinse with cold water.
Heat the vegetable stock in a large saucepan and keep it simmering.
Heat the oil with about a 1/4 of the butter in a large pan, add the onions and fry gently till translucent.
Add the rice to the cooked onion and stir gently till the rice grains are thoroughly coated in the oil and butter.
Turn up the heat a little and pour in the wine, Stirring through the rice till it has been taken up.
Gradually add the stock, a ladle full at a time, stirring constantly, allowing the rice to absorb the liquid before adding more.
This will take about 17-20 minutes.
Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Remove from the heat and stir in the peas, Gorgonzola cheese and remaining butter.
Rest for about 5 minutes before serving.
Serve drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with Parmesan shavings.