Chicken & pea risottata

You can make risotto with pasta, orzo they say.

Timings:

Prep: 5 min. Cook: 30 min. Eat: 10 min.

Dice the chicken breasts, brown off in a frying pan. Put to one side.

In a large saucepan (the whole thing is made in this pan), add the butter and fry the onion over a low heat for 5 minutes until they’re clear. Add garlic (crushed or chopped) and give that 30 seconds frying. Add herbs and stir them in, too.

Add the orzo and toast until lightly brown. This is critical to the texture of the finished dish.

Add the chicken pieces and half the stock. Turn up the heat and stir well to avoid anything sticking to the pan.

Once the pasta has absorbed the liquid, add half the remainder. Keep stirring (though Nigella says not to bother. But what does she know?)

Add the peas and the rest of the stock. Cook until the pasta has the texture you like; ideally a bit of bite should remain. You can cook until it’s all soft if you prefer.

Stir in the grated parmesan and serve. Garlic bread would be a good addition. Maybe use smaller pieces, or add chorizo to give more variation in the texture.