Chicken & Lemon Risotto

I've posted a few risotto recipes here before as it is really one of my favourite foods. Creamy rich and delicious its one of those meals that really feels like a treat. The experts will tell you for a really good risotto you need lashings of butter and cheese to make it really good but to be honest the key is patience and lots of stirring. This recipe does have some real butter in it which you can substitute for any other oil type if you don't keep real butter in the house. If you want to use spray oil you will save 1pp per portion.



Serves 2
Propoints per serving: 13pp
Ingredients:
300g chicken breast cut into chunks
125g risotto rice (such as aboria)
2 leeks chopped finely
1 small onion chopped finely
3 garlic cloves crushed
1 litre hot chicken stock made with 1 cube
30g parmesan grated
2 tsp butter
zest and juice of half a lemon

Melt the butter over a medium heat and add the onions and garlic. Fry gently for 2-3 minutes until they just start to soften and then add the leeks. Fry for a further 2-3 minutes before adding the chicken. Cook until there is no more pink visible in the chicken and then add the risotto rice and lemon zest. Cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring constantly until the edges of the rice start to go translucent. Mix the lemon juice with the stock. Add a ladle full of stock and cook over a low heat stirring constantly until the stock has been absorbed by the rice.

Continue to cook this way adding the stock gradually and stirring constantly until the rice is cooked and creamy but still has a bite to it. If you run out of stock and the rice is not quite cooked you can continue using boiling water. When the rice is cooked, stir through 25g of the cheese and season to taste. You can add a squeeze more lemon juice at this point if its needed. Serve immediately topped with the remaining 5g of cheese.