Spicy chicken risotto

Spicy chicken risotto, enjoyed as leftovers the next day at my desk!

For our monthly Girls' Dinner (with this being the first occasion), I decided on making a risotto. One of our quad is wheat and sugar intolerant so have to make sure we make C-friendly choices for dinner. I figured rice was not wheat so therefore a good grain (does turn out that rice - and all grains - contain gluten, but obviously in much smaller quantities than wheat; but luckily I checked with C that it would be fine).

So anyway, here's my recipe (based on inspiration from Jamie Oliver's Basic Risotto) and additions of my own:

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 green pepper, diced,
• sliced mushrooms (not such a huge mushroom fan so didn't add to many)
• 2 tomatoes, chopped,
• 4 cups of chicken stock (I chose the OXO spicy chicken one for a change...delicious!)
• 2 cups of rice (I used a combination of the real risotto rice, Arborio and just some plain Tastic-type) * Note Even though risotto recipes generally stipulate risotto rice - it's still quite alright to use the Plain Jane kind....especially considering the price difference (R40 versus R10 per kg)
• 4 chicken breasts, sliced
• Salt, pepper, herbs to taste
• 2-3 glasses of dry white wine (or more depending on the occasion and whether you have work the next day!)
• Parmesan cheese (Although generally expensive, I found a small container of it grated in the deli at my local PnP - score!)

Method:

• Lightly fry the chicken for a few minutes so just done
• In a separate pan / pot (I used a pot to fit more in without including the stove top as a plate) fry the garlic, add onions, pepper, mushrooms (and any other veggies you decide to include).
• Add the rice and the wine and stir continuously until all the wine is absorbed (and the smells convince you that a glass of wine simply must accompany the cooking)
• Add in the stock, one cup at a time, stirring until it has all been absorbed before adding the next one. *Note: The spicy chicken stock turned out to be a great choice as it gave lots of flavour and spice to the final dish
• It was at this point that I was reminded about the tomatoes that were sitting in a bath of hot water so their skins were easy to peel off. Woops, add chopped tomatoes (of course, this actually turned out to be a good thing so tomatoes will still tasty but hadn't become sludgy and lost amongst the rest.
• Add salt, pepper and herbs to taste along the way.
• Pour in the last of the bottle of wine (you simply can't waste,  you know)
• Add the chicken that's been chilling on the side, as well as the Parmesan cheese (however cheesy you feel on the day) and stir through.
• Pop the lid on and leave to simmer for a few minutes (getting it deliciously creamy, says Jamie)...or until you get too hungry to wait any longer.

Serve with a glass of wine amongst good company, makes five portions (the fifth being my lunch the next day - pictured).
Yum!