Starting Out and Chicken and Pea Risotto

I have always adored home cooked food. There's nothing quite like seeing a bunch of raw ingredients being transformed into something absolutely delicious and nothing beats that swell of pride you get when something you've made is recieved with an "mmmmm" of delight. I used to cook and bake an awful lot when I was a student and I loved it, but since I graduated work, travelling and I'll admit, sheer laziness all got in the way and I recently realised that I no longer cook for myself anymore. So inspired by some of the truly amazing foodblogs out there, many of which will feature heavily here, and in a desparate bid to rediscover a lost love I've started this blog. Hopefully I will continue to update and post about the new exciting recipes I've discovered and not let it fall by the wayside (although my reputation for finishing things I've started is pretty bad). So without further ado I present my first experiment with risotto, recipe after the jump.







Chicken and Pea Risotto


I found this recipe at coconut lime and adapted it ever so slightly to suit my needs. Basically I just substituted the turkey for chicken because we had some roast chicken in the fridge and adjusted the measurements a little. For my first attempt at a risotto I wasn't sure how well it was going to end up 'cause I'd heard risotto could be difficult to get right, but in the end I was pretty pleased with it! It was nice and light and full of flavour and the cheese gave it a lovely creamy texture. My dish needed a little more stock than the recipe suggests but I think that may have been because at first I had the pan up too high, and as you can see from the picture mine turned out drier in the end than a normal risotto, more like sticky rice. So my top tips for risotto are don't have the pan up too high and don't be afraid to add more stock!

Ingredients

• 600ml chicken stock
• 200g chicken breast
• 100g frozen peas
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 celery stick, diced,
• 1/2 carrot, diced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 225g arborio rice
• 2-3 tbsp parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tbsp butter
• salt and pepper

Method

1. In a saucepan bring the stock to a simmer. Heat the oil and butter and sautee the onion, celery and carrot until softened. Add the rice and sautee for 2-3 minutes, stirring continuously.
2. Add the stock in 100ml portions stirring continuously and waiting for each addition to be absorbed by the rice before adding the next.
3. About halfway through adding the liquid mis in the chicken and peas then continue to add the stock and stir.
4. When the rice is tender and the risotto has a creamy texture remove from the heat and stir in the cheese.