Forza Italia!

I am officially stuffed.

A lunchtime nandos with a very good friend went well (skinless chicken quarter, spicy rice, side salad - max 5 syns!) so in theory, given I never eat as much as that during the day, I should be off the idea of tea/dinner (depending which part of the country you are from), and yet I've just packed away a yummilicious chicken and asparagus risotto. In celebration of Italy making the Euro 2012 finals? Not quite, but anyway..

I bloody love Italian food, I really do. I've commented in a previous post that we eat a lot of pasta, and although I have always loved risotto it is only recently I've developed any love of actually cooking it. It always seems to take loads of time, stirring it gently until creamy and luxurious. Obviously a classic version is not slimming world friendly, but this is my recipe which is free if you use the Parmesan as your Healthy A choice for the day. "Fillings" are totally up to you but this combination is the Black household favourite. Serves 2.

1 onion, finely chopped
1 stick of celery, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
140g risotto rice
500ml hot chicken stock
60g grated Parmesan
Black pepper
frylight (use 2tbsp olive oil if you haven't used your B choice)
1 cooked chicken breast, shredded
8 asparagus spears, chopped into 2cm lengths

Spray a deep sides casserole or sauté dish with frylight and heat. Add the finely chopped carrot, celery and garlic and sweat slowly on a low heat for 10 minutes or until soft.

Add your rice and stir until coated and glossy. Allow to toast slightly for about a minute.

Keeping the pan on a lowish heat, begin to add the stock ladle by ladle, allowing each ladle to be absorbed before adding the next. Stir gently and almost continuously - this helps to make the risotto nice and creamy. This should take 20-30 minutes stirring and adding stock until it is all absorbed.

In the meantime heat a small frying pan with frylight and add your chopped asparagus, tossing until lightly charred. Add your shredded chicken, remove from the heat and put to one side - the chicken will warm later.

Once your stock is all absorbed, add plenty of black pepper and half of the grated Parmesan. Stir in your chicken and asparagus and serve, sprinkling liberally with the remaining Parmesan.

I really hope you make this and love it as much as we do. The asparagus is crunchy and almost bitter against the soft and creamy rice. My only changes to the classic recipe really are the frylight and the exemption of white wine. You could still add wine before the stock, about 125ml, allowing the rice to absorb this before starting with your stock. This would make the recipe 4 syns in total.

Or you could do what I often do - splash some in and share the rest of the bottle with the other lucky risotto eater. Just remember - count the syns...