Moroccan meatballs with couscous

I went to Marrakesh in May last year and loved it - the food, the riad's, lanterns and souk's. I've since tried to recreate some of the incredible food we had there. I've also noticed that Moroccan cuisine seems to be more popular in the UK now. We ate a lot of couscous and spiced grilled meat and harissa (a spicy flavoured chilli paste). One recipe I found was for Moroccan meatballs served with a herby couscous - I cooked it with my boyfriend for my parents on Saturday night.

Ingredients - serves 4/5
1 kg lean minced lamb
1 red onion, grated or finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 cm chunk ginger, grated or use a couple of tsp ground ginger
pinch dried chilli flakes
4 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground cinnamon
Olive oil flavoured with garlic
2 x 400g tins plum tomatoes (and swill half again in water)
200ml chicken stock 
coriander, chopped


To serve - 
400g couscous
500ml chicken stock/water
coriander
harissa paste
Pitta breads (I like the round little ones from Waitrose)


1. Put the lamb, onion, garlic and half the spices in a bowl and season well. Use your hands to mulch it all up and form small meatballs (we made 40)
2. Heat garlic oil in a large pan and add the meatballs in batches, frying until browned all over. Then scoop them out. Add the rest of the spices to the pan and cook for a couple of minutes. Then add the tomatoes, stock and season. Simmer for 10 minutes then add the meatballs and cook for another 20 minutes.
3. Make the couscous by adding the stock, a couple of teaspoons of harissa paste before forking through. Leave to absorb the liquid.
4. Meanwhile, grill the pitta breads by sprinkling with water then placing under a hot grill for a couple of minutes. 
5. Add coriander to the meatballs and fork some through the couscous. Serve by pouring some meatballs and sauce over the couscous and mopping it up with the pittas. 
- My Dad likes it with a kick so added more harissa paste.

Mexican Fajitas

I love the whole tex-mex fajita thing. Last night I made these fajitas with my boyfriend - sizzling chicken, peppers and onion cooked in a griddle pan and then rolled up in a soft tortilla with salsa, guacamole, lettuce and grated cheese. We cheat, just the tiniest bit, by using Discovery seasoning paste but they're really yummy.

Ingredients - 

Chicken breasts, cut into strips

Red yellow and orange peppers, cut into strips

Red and white onion, cut into strips

Discovery Fajita Seasoning Paste

Tortilla wraps

Salsa

Guacamole

Sour Cream (optional)

Grated cheese

Lettuce

1. Fry the chicken, peppers and onions until really well cooked and the onions are almost caramelised. Then add the fajita seasoning paste and stir in. 

2. Microwave the tortilla wraps to warm and soften.

3. To assemble, add some salsa to a wrap and top with the chicken and vegetable mix and then add some lettuce, grated cheese and guacamole. Fold up and eat!

Pea, Prosciutto and Tomato Pasta...

Gigli Pasta - cone shaped flowers

This is just a simple pasta dish that is really, really delicious. I'd been craving pasta for a while so made a really quick sauce last night and just added some peas, prosciutto ham, basil and onion. I really wanted to use orecchiette pasta (also known as little ears) which would have held the sauce well but unfortunately Sainsbury's didn't have any. So instead I got 'Gigli,', the next most unusual looking shape, which is rolled into the shape of a conical flower. I think it's the prettiest pasta I've seen and was really delicious. It's hard to use exact quantities, this is more of an idea for a quick pasta dish rather than a proper recipe so just use as much as you like.


Ingredients - (for 2)
2 portions of any type of pasta
Peas
Prosciutto ham
Small white onion, finely chopped
Handful of basil
Clove of garlic, finely chopped or crushed
Can of chopped tomatoes
Tin of tomato puree 
Grated cheese, parmesan or cheddar. 
Black pepper


1. Boil the kettle for the pasta. Get the sauce going by frying the onion and garlic in a little olive oil. Once softened, add the basil and tomato puree for a minute or 2. Then add the chopped tomatoes and simmer for a good 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, cook the peas in the microwave and tear the ham up. Cook the pasta according to it's instructions. 
3. Add the peas and ham to the sauce and stir in. Add some black pepper.
4. Once the pasta is cooked, drain and coat in the sauce. Divide into bowls and add some cheese, then serve.

Parma Ham Wrapped Cod with a Shallot and Sage Risotto

For an early Valentine's dinner, my Boyfriend and I cooked dinner together. I had been thinking about cooking some fish wrapped in parma ham for a while and so it seemed like a good opportunity. The recipe is for cod (we were going to get monkfish but cod was better value in Waitrose) wrapped in parma ham and baked in the oven served with a simple shallot, sage, asparagus and pea risotto. I really like shallots in risotto, they're much more subtle and sweeter than regular onions, the sage goes well with them too. It was really delicious. I think next time though, I'd put a cocktail stick to hold the ham around the fish a bit better. For dessert we had meringue kisses (see previous post) with vanilla ice cream and raspberries. 


Ingredients - Serves 2
2 x white fish loins or 1 large one
Parma/prosciutto ham slices, about 2-3 per person and fish loin
3 small shallots, chopped
250g risotto rice (I like arborio)
Small knob of butter
2 small cloves garlic
Asparagus
Peas
Chicken stock (about 1 litre)
White wine (optional)
Sage leaves
Black Pepper
Parmesan cheese, grated


1. Preheat the oven to 200c. Prepare the fish by placing the slices of ham in a lightly oiled baking tray and add a bay leaf (see photo) then lay the fish on top. Roll up and secure with a cocktail stick.
2. Put in the oven and cook for about 20-25minutes until the fish is cooked through.
3. Start the risotto by frying the garlic, shallots and a couple of  roughly torn sage leaves in the butter. Then when the shallots are softened, add the risotto rice and stir until translucent. Then add a glug of wine (if using) or a splash of stock and stir until well absorbed. Repeat a few times before adding some parmesan and black pepper. Keep stirring over a low heat and gradually adding more stock. 
4. Microwave the asparagus and peas until cooked and set aside. Check the fish, if there is any juice in the baking tray, pour this into the risotto. Keep stirring the risotto.
5. Once the risotto is nearly cooked (you want it to be soft with a tiny bit of bite - al dente), add the asparagus and peas.
6. When the fish is cooked through, serve on top of the risotto with a tiny bit more parmesan and black pepper. 

Below are some photo's from my Valentine's Day. Some are pictures of presents my boyfriend made for me (the orchids in a drawer and the LOVE picture). The other is of me at 'Cupid Green', appropriate for the occasion.

Chicken and Vegetable Kebabs with Couscous

The idea for this came from a 'winter barbecue'; a summer al-fresco one seems so far away. So by making this in mid January, you can have all the flavours and ingredients you'd eat in abundance in the summer months while it's actually dark and cold outside. It's basically just some chicken and vegetables on skewers served with couscous, salad and pitta breads. The kebabs are made with a technique from Jamie Oliver, instead of cutting the chicken into pieces and then threading them onto skewers, you put 4 skewers through a chicken breast then cut down between them (see photo below, a picture tells 1000 words). These are so versatile, you can put any type of meat or vegetable and serve it with rice or 


Ingredients -
1 to 1 1/2 chicken breasts per person
Vegetables such as cherry tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, courgettes, onions, cut into sizeable chunks that can be threaded
Couscous (I use Ainsley Harriot's dried roasted vegetable couscous that you just add boiling water)
Brown Pitta Breads
Salad


2 skewers per person


1. Load up the skewers with the meat and vegetables, see photo for the easy way to thread the chicken. 
2. Then cook or grill in a griddle pan over a medium to high heat until the chicken is cooked through. 
3. Prepare the couscous to your packet's instructions and serve with your favourite salad.
4. When the chicken is cooked, remove the skewers and toast the pittas in the griddle pan for a few minutes on each side.

Mexican Lasagne with Guacamole (From Nigella Kitchen)

Note that this photo doesn't at all match up to the one in Nigella's cookbook.

Continuing with recipes from my new cookbooks, I cooked a Mexican Lasagne from Nigella's 'Kitchen' last night. It's such a great idea, layers of tortillas filled with tomatoes, peppers, onion, chilli, sweetcorn, beans and cheese. It would be great for a crowd as her version serves 8. We halved the recipe and just used 3 tortillas instead of her 8. We also added some spitroast chicken which was a good addition. But I'd say the recipe needs a little tweaking and here's what I'd do when I make it again:
Put some extra chilli in the sauce, it needed zinging up a little to be more 'mexican'.
Maybe add some cajun seasoning for more mexican flavour.
Not put the extra water in that she recommends, it made the sauce way too liquidy and it didn't bake up enough.
We served it with salad and my boyfriend had his with some guacamole which he said made it much better.


Ingredients - serves 8
For the sauce: 1 tablespoon garlic oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 red pepper, de seeded and chopped
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons coriander stalks, finely chopped
2 x 400g can chopped tomatoes, plus 400ml water swilled from empty cans (it definitely didn't need this, I'd advise you to leave it out and only add a little water if it's too thick)
1 squirt of tomato ketchup
For the filling:
2 x 400g can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 x 250g cans sweetcorn
250g mature Cheddar
Some spit roasted chicken (optional)
1 packet (8) soft tortillas


Salad and guacamole to serve.

1. Preheat the oven to 200c. Then make the sauce by heating the oil in a pan, frying the onion, pepper and chilli. Add the salt and cook gently for 15minutes, once soft add the coriander. Then add the chopped tomatoes (and water, see note above). Spoon in the ketchup and let it simmer for about 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, make the filling by mixing the drained beans and sweetcorn in a bowl and most of the grated cheese. (we put the chicken here too)
3. Assemble the lasagne by spooning a third of the sauce in the bottom of an ovenproof dish (approx 26cm x 6cm deep) then layer 2 tortillas so they cover the sauce overlapping slightly.
4. Then add a third of the beans and cheese mixture, covering the tortillas and then add a quarter of the remaining sauce and 2 tortillas to cover.
5. Repeat with another 1/3 of the beans and cheese and some more sauce before layering another 2 tortillas.
6. Finally. add the last layer of beans and cheese and nearly all the sauce before covering with the last 2 tortillas. Then spread the last of the sauce with the remaining cheese before baking in the oven for 30minutes. Then let it rest for about 10 minutes before slicing and eating with the salad and guacamole. 


- Nigella also notes that this can be made 1 day ahead and refrigerated until needed but with an extra 5 minutes cooking time. You can also freeze it for up to 3 months by wrapping the dish in a double layer of clingfilm and a layer of foil. Then defrost in the fridge overnight and cook as above. 

Chilli con carne

Chilli is a great Mexican family dinner and tastes great served with brown rice and grated cheese, although my brother loves his in taco shells. In this recipe, you can add a small (about the size of a thumb) piece of dark chocolate instead of the sugar which adds more depth. And I often freeze chilli and defrost about a day before cooking. Just put it in a freezer bag and it will last for a couple of months for a quick midweek dinner!

Ingredients -
1 tbsp oil
1 large onion, diced
1 red pepper (optional) 
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 heaped tsp hot chilli powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
500g lean minced beef
1 beef stock cube
400g can chopped tomatoes
1/2tsp dried marjoram
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 or 2 cans of red kidney beans


Cheese, rice, taco shells and sour cream to serve.


1. Heat some oil in a pan and fry the onions until soft. Add the garlic, red pepper, chilli, paprika and cumin. Stir and cook for 5 minutes.
2. Brown the mince on a high heat. Once fully browned, crumble a stock cube into the mix. Then add a can of chopped tomatoes and the marjoram and sugar, salt and pepper. Then squirt some tomato puree and stir.
3. Simmer gently, bring it to the boil and put a lid on the pan. Turn down the heat until bubbling and leave for around 20minutes. If it needs loosening up, add up to 1/2 pint of hot water. Then add the drained kidney beans and bubble in the sauce.  Season again if it needs it. 
4. Leave to cool and refrigerate if leaving it for the next day or leave on the hob if serving later that day. Reheat until boiling and serve with rice. 

Jamie's Sea Bass & Crispy Pancetta, Sweet Potato Mash and Asian Greens...

This is another recipe from Jamie's 30minute meals cookbook that I cooked with my boyfriend last night. I think it's a really great way to do the sweet potatoes with coriander and mango chutney. It's kind of an Asian mix with some Italian Pancetta. Unfortunately Sainsbury's had run out of Seabass so we had to do the recipe with Haddock, which was nice but Seabass would have definitely been better. I also didn't have any asparagus for the greens so used spinach with the broccoli instead. And because we didn't make the lemon and ginger drink or berry ice cream like Jamie does in the 30minute recipe, ours was ready a lot sooner. I cut down the amount of lemon, salt and olive oil that Jamie ALWAYS insists on. I think these top chefs seem to have lost their taste buds and can only eat anything coated in lemon, salt and oil -raising your blood pressure and adding unnecessary calories. 
Ingredients - (based on the recipe for 4 people)
For the Mash: 
700g sweet potatoes, 
2 limes, 
A small bunch of fresh coriander,
2 tablespoons mango chutney,
Soy Sauce.
For the Greens:
1 fresh red chilli
1 clove of garlic
Soy Sauce
1 lime
Sesame Oil
100g Asparagus or some spinach
1 head of broccoli
For the Seabass:
8 thin slices of pancetta
4 x 150g fillets of sea bass, skin on, scaled and pin-boned
1 lemon (if you feel it's necessary)
1 tsp fennel seeds (optional)


1. Wash the sweet potatoes, trim off any gnarly bits then stab them a few times with a knife. Put in a large microwave safe bowl, halve one of the limes and add to the bowl then cover with a double layer of clingfilm and microwave on full power for 12 minutes, or until cooked through.
2. Deseed and finely chop the chilli adding half to a large serving bowl and set the rest aside. Crush the unpeeled clove of garlic into the bowl and add 2 tbsp of soy sauce. Squeeze in the juice of 1 lime and add a splash of sesame oil. Mix. Trim the asparagus stalks, if using, quarter the broccoli. 
3. Put the pancetta into a frying pan with a drizzle of olive oil. Turn when crispy. When golden, remove to a plate and leave the fat in the pan. Add the fish to the pan, skin side down. Shake the pan and press the fish flat for a couple of seconds. Then put the fennel seeds in if using with some pepper.
4. Finely chop coriander on a large wooden chopping board, setting a few leaves aside for the garnish. Add the mango chutney, a good splash of soy and the reserved chopped chilli. Chop the mix everything together on the board.
5. Fill a large saucepan with boiling water and add the broccoli and asparagus, completely submerging them. Put the lid on and turn the heat up high.
6. Check the fish, once the skin is golden and crispy, turn the heat down to low but have confidence to let the skin become good and crispy before reducing the heat.
7. Get the sweet potatoes out of the micrwoave and check they are cooked through, then use tongs to squeeze the juice from the lime. Then carefully tip the sweet potatoes on top of the mango chutney mixture and use a knife or masher to chop and mash everything together (inc skins). Season to taste.
8. Take the pan of fish off the heat and flip the fillets over so they gently finish cooking on the flesh side. Return the pancetta to warm through and serve the fish and pancetta on top of the board of mash and take to the table.
9. Drain the broccoli and asparagus in a colander then tip into the serving bowl with the dressing, quickly toss and take to the table. 

Lasagne

Lasagne is such a great dish to make for a crowd. It's one of those things that tastes better as it matures so it's good (and handy) to make a couple of days in advance. I make it using my Dad's famous Bolognese sauce, taught to him by my Grandma when he left home. But I must admit that for the white sauce...  I shamefully used Dolmio.... (only because I was pushed for time and we had some in the cupboard)... If you want to be better and more virtuous than I was, Delia has a good basic recipe for a white sauce. I always use green pasta sheets in lasagne, I think it adds another dimension along with the mushrooms. I serve it with a balsamic dressed green salad. If you drain all the fat off the mince (see recipe), it makes for a healthy dinner.


Ingredients - (makes 1 big lasagne to feed about 6 depending on the size of your dish, you'll probably have some sauce left which you could freeze or serve with some pasta the next day)


2 x 600g lean mince
1 pack closed cup mushrooms, chopped
1 large white onion, diced
3 tins tomato purée
3 tins chopped tomatoes
Good glug of red white
Salt, pepper to season
Garlic flavoured olive oil
2 garlic cloves
Sprinkling of italian mixed herbs
A few gratings of parmesan cheese
Quantity of white sauce (see Delia's recipe or if you're lazy like me, a jar of dolmio)
Lasagne dried pasta sheets  - green is good

1. Fry off the onion in some garlic oil and then brown the mince. Once browned, drain away as much liquid/fat as you can down the sink. Then add the garlic and mushrooms.


2. Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato purée and wine and stir to coat all of the mince.


3. Add some herbs, lots of black pepper and a little salt then grate some parmesan cheese into the sauce.


4. Leave to simmer while stirring occasionally and leave it cooking for about 15-20mins on a low heat to thicken slightly.

5. Once all cooked and cooled (if the sauce is still warm, it will make the pasta curl) you can start to assemble the lasagne. Get a large ovenproof dish and spoon a good layer of sauce to cover the bottom, spreading out evenly. Then cover with a layer of the pasta sheets, cover with a layer of the white sauce, then put more meat sauce before topping again with pasta and the white sauce to finish. Grate some parmesan cheese over the top to crisp it up while it cooks.


6. You can now cover it with clingfilm and leave in the fridge for a couple of days. When cooking the lasagne, let it come up to temperate out of the fridge a couple of hours before and then cook for about 50 minutes in a preheated oven at 180c. It's best when the top has browned and the sauce is just bubbling up at the edges. Serve with a salad.

Pizza - Healthy, Easy and Delicious!

Mmn, Pizza! I absolutely adore Pizza, even more since travelling in Italy in July. The kind of pizzas that I like are the Italian, thin kind with lots of tomato sauce and not smothered in cheese like American styles. I make mine out of wholemeal flour and use really good mozzarella cheese and quality ingredients. 
Here's the simple recipe, you can add whatever toppings you like:
Ingredients - (makes 2 good sized pizzas)
For the base - About 300g of wholemeal plain flour (not that sure on the quantity, I just chuck it in the bowl and add more if needed)
1/2 sachet of yeast
About a tablespoon of olive oil
Pinch of Salt
Tepid Water
Chopped fresh basil
For the sauce - Olive oil
1 tin tomato purée
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1/2 red onion, chopped
Clove of garlic, crushed
Fresh basil
Splash of Balsamic Vinegar
Toppings - Mozzarella (I like either Sainsbury's taste the difference or Sainsbury's organic or if I'm feeling extravagant, M&S have some great options or the local deli), Red Onion, Mushrooms, Prosciutto/Parma Ham, Asparagus, Courgette etc...
Preheat oven to about 200c.
To make the dough: Mix the flour and yeast in a bowl, then pour in some olive oil and a tiny bit of salt and chopped basil if using. Then very gradually add the tepid water and keep stirring until all combined. Hard to say how much water, if you put too much and it's too sticky then add more flour and vice versa. No need to prove. Then roll it out to your chosen thickness, I usually do about 1 1/2 cm thick and put on a tray (I find the pizza trays with holes in best as they don't stick, also don't worry if the dough is rough, it's supposed to be rustic) and pop into the preheated oven about 5minutes before topping to help them rise a bit and shrink away from the tray.
For the sauce: Fry off the onion and garlic in a pan and add the basil, then add the purée and stir until it starts to blacken. Then pour in the chopped tomatoes and reduce the heat, add a splash of balsamic. 
Then assemble the pizzas with half the sauce on each of the bases, add the cheese and toppings and cook for about 12minutes until the cheese is bubbling and toppings just crisp.

The Pizzas are also really good if you have a group to feed. You can make them in batches and serve with lots of salad. We built a pizza oven so it's great fun in the summer but to be honest, they taste just as good in the normal oven!

Simple Grilled Chicken, Jamie's Sweet Potato Mash and Asparagus

Some of my favourite dinners are the healthiest and simplest, perfect for mid-week like grilled chicken or fish with some vegetables. I adore sweet potatoes and saw Jamie's mash (on his 30minute meals again) which seemed like a good way to zap it up a little. This is more like an idea than a recipe to be honest -

So for the chicken I just grilled it on the 'Baby George', or if you're lucky enough to have nice summery weather, bbq it! Then just steam some veggies, I love asparagus and spinach.

But the sweet potatoes are the really special bit -

It depends on how many you're serving or how hungry you are as to how many you use. But I just quartered and peeled (although you don't have to peel it for added fibre) and put in a microwavable bowl. Add a quarter of a lemon to the bowl to steam in with it if you like. Cover with clingfilm and cook on full power for about 9 minutes - obviously more depending on the quantities. Push a fork in when cooked to see if they are soft enough to mash, if not cook for a bit longer. Then mash it up and drizzle in some garlic oil while the potatoes are still hot, then you can add whatever you like depending on your meal! Sometimes coriander or chilli (like Jamie does). I just simply added some peas and served with lots of black pepper!

Prawn Tomato and Spinach curry

Haven't blogged in a while but have done lots of cooking so time to catch up...

This curry is so quick, healthy and delicious! Good for a Friday or Saturday night. I like it with brown basmati rice with butternut squash (I think it's Tilda microwave pack from most supermarkets), but my boyfriend has his with plain white.

Ingredients -

- Makes 2 large bowlfuls

White onion, diced

Prawns

Peas - cooked in the microwave

Spinach (a huge bag) - wilted down in the microwave

Tin of chopped tomatoes - one per 2 people

Tin of tomato purée - again one per 2 people

Patak's Masala Paste - a tablespoon

Rice to serve

Fry the onion and add the masala paste and puree, then add the prawns and coat them until just cooked through.

Add the chopped tomatoes and then add the spinach and peas, cook down for a good 5 minutes (while the rice is being microwaved)

Then serve with the rice.

Healthy Vegetable Dhansak Curry

I found this recipe in a magazine about a month ago but only got round to cooking it last night! I love healthy, low-fat dinners like these. If anyone's tried an Innocent Veg Pot then it's along those kind of lines. It counts as all 5 of your 5-a-day as not only do the vegetables count, but also the red lentils! It's really easy to make and is so healthy and delicious :) Also I was going to add some prawns to this but forgot to get them out the freezer, but to be honest you don't really need any fish or meat and the lentils have lots of protein anyway!


Makes 2 generous portions (You don't any need rice because of the filling lentils)
Ingredients - 
100g red lentils
Vegetable oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 green chillies finally chopped (I used 1 red chilli from my garden and kept the seeds in for extra zing!)
1 tsp peeled and grated root ginger (I forgot to buy this so used a spoonful of ground ginger)
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
1 medium sweet potato peeled and diced into 2cm cubes (I used squash but either works)
1 red pepper, seeded and diced
Large handful sultanas (Optional, I hate raisins in savoury so left them out)
1/4tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
500ml hot vegetable stock
1tbsp tomato purée
2 large tomatoes, cut into 8
100g green beans, halved
1tsp garam masala
Small bunch coriander, torn up

Method -
Soak the lentils in cold water for about 3mins then drain.
Heat the oil in a large pan. Fry the onion, garlic, chillies, ginger until the onion softens
Add the carrots, sweet potato/squash and pepper and fry for 5mins
Add the sultanas (if using), turmeric, cumin and coriander and cook for 1min
Stir in the lentils, stock, puree and tomatoes.


Cover with a lid and simmer for 15-20mins, stirring twice.
Add the beans and garam masala and then simmer uncovered for 10mins
Serve with the coriander.

The best ever risotto (If I do say so myself)...

This risotto used to be (and probably to an extent still is) my signature dish, it's complicated enough to seem like you've put some effort in yet simple enough to make and still taste delicious. It can be adapted to any season, the photo shows a summery version with peas and asparagus but I also use roasted squash in the autumn/winter. I've even made a bright pink beetroot version which was a bit strange albeit yummy!


There are 3 main rules to follow with this risotto - lots of stirring, lots of black pepper and lots of parmesan!


The basic recipe (before any adaptations) -

100g-150g risotto rice per person

Tiny piece of butter

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 White Onion, chopped

Closed cup mushrooms

1 and a half breasts of chicken per person

White Wine (about 1 glass full)

Chicken stock (probably made up with 1-1/2 litres of boiling water but check the packets instructions depending on how much rice you're using)

Peas

Parmesan 

Black Pepper

Then you can add any or a mix of the following - 

Asparagus (Steam in the microwave with a tiny bit of water until just soft)

Roasted butternut squash, cubed into small pieces (   Roast the butternut squash – 200 degrees c, roasting tin, cube squash, sprinkle with garlic oil, roast until soft and starting to blacken)

Peas (Cook in the microwave)

Beetroot (Roast whole in the oven first and then remove the skin, grate into the risotto)

Pink beetroot risotto! Looks strange, tastes yummy!

More mushrooms/wild mushrooms

Or anything else you can think of!

Fry the butter, onions and chicken in a pan until chicken is almost cooked.

     Add mushrooms when chicken almost cooked

-       Add risotto rice to cook until translucent then add wine, stirring until absorbed

-       Add chicken stock a ladleful at a time, stirring all the time and only adding when all has been absorbed.

-       Add parmesan and black pepper in regular intervals

-       Then when all the stock is nearly absorbed, add the squash or asparagus/peas etc.

-       Add to risotto when stock is almost finished

     And then serve with lots of black pepper and parmesan!