Chicken & Chestnut Mushroom Risotto

Ingredients

• 1 tblsp rapeseed oil
• 1 onion (finely chopped)
• 2 sticks of celery (finely chopped)
• 1 clove garlic (minced or grated)
• 120 g arborio or carnaroli rice
• 150 ml white wine
• 500 ml chicken stock
• 2 chicken breasts (finely sliced)
• 200 g chestnut mushrooms (wiped and sliced)
• salt and pepper
• 40 g parmesan (grated)
• 1 tblsp flat leaf parsley (chopped)
• 20 g butter (optional)

Method

1. Heat the oil in the bottom of a large saucepan, add the onion and celery and fry gently for about 5 minutes until soft. Add the garlic and fry for another minute. Now add the rice and fry for another 2-3 minutes until it starts to pop.
2. Pour in the wine and start to stir the rice - the rice will start to release its starch and the liquid will go creamy. When it has almost evaporated, add a large ladleful of the stock and keep stirring.
3. After the second addition of stock, add the chicken and keep stirring. When you add the next round of stock, add the mushrooms. You may use up all the stock before the risotto is cooked, if that happens, add some hot water as there's enough flavour there already to get away with it.
4. 3-4 minutes after you've added the mushrooms, taste the rice : there should be a tiny bit of bite there but not enough to jar your tooth. That's known as "al dente" and means it's ready. If it hasn't reached this stage, cook it for another few minutes, checking it every so often to make sure it doesn't hit the mushy stage.
5. Turn off the heat, add the herbs & parmesan and put a lid on the pot (you can add the butter at this point if you want to be really decadent). Leave it for 2 minutes to let the parmesan melt, then check for seasoning - it may be perfect, it may need salt and pepper - it's entirely down to your palate.
6. Serve in warmed bowls with some shaved parmesan on top. Eat quickly...