You may have seen on my Facebook and Instagram accounts recently that I’m completely obsessed with Italian food at the moment – gnocchi, pasta, pizza and of course, risotto. This won’t be lasting for long though as I REALLY need to sort my shit out for my upcoming wedding or as I’m not-so-lovingly referring to it as – shredding for the wedding.

I created this risotto dish a couple of weeks ago and it’s too good not to share. The chicken sausage gives it a really delicious flavour, while the butter and parmesan give it that yummy creaminess that you always want in a risotto! And who doesn’t like lemon and thyme.

This is easy but requires a little attention as the rice needs constant stirring.

Serves 4

Difficulty: Easy
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 400g baby spinach
• 1 cup mushrooms
• 1 brown onion
• 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme
• 2 cloves of garlic crushed
• 400g arborio rice
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 6 chicken sausages – free range
• 1.2 litres chicken stock (use a good quality stock)
• 20g butter
• 100 ml white wine
• 1 cup grated parmesan
• S & P to season

Method

1. Chop the brown onion and thyme and slice the mushrooms and baby spinach.
2. In a decent-sized pan heat 1 tbsp of the olive oil and the butter on a low heat. Add brown onion and fry for a few minutes until softened. Add in arborio rice and fry lightly for a few minutes.
3. Add mushrooms, thyme and garlic to the rice and continue frying for a couple more minutes. Be careful not to let the rice burn.
4. Add in the white wine and allow to absorb.
5. Start adding in the chicken stock ladle at a time letting each ladle absorb before adding the next. Gently stir your rice continuously.
6. While the rice is absorbing the chicken stock start cooking your chicken sausages. Heat a pan with the remaining olive oil to a medium heat. Pierce the end of each of the sausages and remove the inside so that you end up with chunks of chicken sausage. Cook until browned.
7. Once your chicken sausages are cooked and the rice has absorbed all of the liquid, add the two together.
8. Add chopped spinach to the pan and allow to reduce. Once it’s reduced slightly it will be easier to mix through the risotto.
9. Add in the grated parmesan and mix well.
10. Season well with salt and pepper, and squeeze lemon juice over the risotto.
11. Serve immediately with a simple rocket and parmesan salad drizzled with a little olive oil.

Enjoy! X