Chicken and pea brown rice risotto

METHOD

1. Finely chop the onion, celery and courgette. Gently heat the olive oil in a heavy bottomed casserole and add the chopped vegetables, cook for 10min on a low heat. Add the rice and stir for 1min to ensure it’s covered in the oily vegetable mix.

2. Bring the chicken stock to the boil and lower the heat to keep to keep it warm. If using, add the wine or vermouth to the rice and stir while the rice absorbs it, then add half of the stock, stir well, bring to the boil, lower the heat to the bare minimum and cover with the lid. Let it cook gently, stirring every now and then, for about 15 min by when the rice should have absorbed all the stock. Add another quarter of the hot stock, stir, put the lid on and stir a two or three times in the next 10minutes. When the rice has absorbed all the liquid, add a ladleful of stock and the chicken, stir, let it cook for another 5 minutes before checking if the rice is al dente, i.e. cooked but with a bit of bite. If not cooked, add a bit more stock, stir and check in 2-3 minutes. Repeat again if the rice is not cooked. When the rice is cooked, stir in the peas (thawed if frozen) and the cheese, stir well and put the lid back on for 3 minutes. Serve immediately, sprinkled with the very finely chopped parsley if using. A green salad goes very well with this dish or if your kids don’t like salads, a bit of steamed broccoli dressed with olive oil and toasted flaked almonds.

VARIANTS

Chicken, pea and barley risotto. Exactly same recipe, just use barley instead of brown rice.
Use broad beans when in season but remember to pop them out of their shells…it takes a good 10min for 500g
Use asparagus in spring, just wash them snap the ends off and add to the risotto or “barlotto” 5 min before the end of the cooking time. Stir carefully as you don’t want to mush them up.
IF you have fresh herbs at home, chops a teaspoon per person and sprinkle them on top just before serving.
Cavolo nero is another great vegetable to add to this risotto, just wash it, remove tough stalks, chop as finely as you like it and add to the rice/barley 4 minutes before the end of the cooking.
For a veggie option, try cannellini bean and pea risotto. Just leave the chicken out and add the cannellini beans half way through the cooking if them seem a little hard or 5 minutes before the end of the cooking if they are really soft.
For a vegan option, just leave the cheese out and add a generous drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil at the end of the cooking. IF you have any flavoured oils such as truffle, here they’ll really lift up the flavours!