The Cottage Smallholder

Photo: Chorizo and pak choi risotto

Danny and I love pak choi (also known as bok choi and Horses Ear). This Chinese vegetable is a member of the cabbage family and cooks in two minutes when it’s sliced and simmered fast. It’s a great side vegetable with a richer dish as it tastes very clean – a cross between spinach and cabbage. The white stalks have a satisfying crunch.

Tonight I decided to add it to a chicken and chorizo risotto. It needed to be added right at the end, just before the cooked chicken so as to retain some of its crispness and texture. It worked really well.

“This is your best ever Oscar winning risotto.”
Danny chortled as he helped himself to a third portion. Stirring in finely grated Parmesan and mushroom ketchup gave the risotto a lot more flavour and depth .

But the real stars were the chorizo and the pak choi. Best actor award goes to pak choi – the crunch and colour were perfect for the end of a crisp and sunny Spring day. The spicy chorizo got the unanimous award for the perfect supporting actor. In fact if you doubled up the amount of chorizo you could probably drop the chicken!

Delicious budget meals for frugal entertaining: Chicken, pak choi and chorizo risotto recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 small onion (100g). Skinned and chopped
• 2  tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp of garlic granules (or a clove of garlic crushed, skinned and chopped)
• 250g of Arborio rice (this was on offer 99p for 1 kilo)
• 1 Romano pepper diced
• 1 large tomato diced
• Half a tsp of dried mixed Italian herbs
• 3 tsp of mushroom ketchup
• 1 heaped tsp of vegetable stock powder
• 500-750ml of hot fresh chicken stock
• 6 tsp of finely grated parmesan (2 stirred into the risotto 4 to serve)
• 160g of Pak Choi – washed and sliced
• Salt and lashings of freshly ground black pepper – at least half a tsp
• Half a tsp of chilli sherry
• 150g of chopped cooked chicken
• 50g of chopped chorizo

Method:

1. Heat the olive oil and butter in a sauté pan or large casserole
2. Add the onions and cook gently until translucent
3. Add the rice and stir to cover the grains with the oil
4. Add the garlic granules, mushroom ketchup, chilli sherry
5. Stir in the chopped Romano pepper, tomato and chorizo
6. Add herbs, the vegetable stock powder and the stock, a cupful at a time, stirring the rice until the stock is absorbed before adding the next cup. This will take roughly 20 minutes or so. The rice needs to have a softness and bite.
7. Add the sliced pak choi and stir into the risotto for about a minute.
8. Then remove the pan from the heat and stir through the cooked chopped chicken and 2 tsp of parmesan. Pop a lid on the pan, the chicken and pak choi will heat through in the risotto within five minutes or so.
9. Finally season well with salt and lashings of black pepper and serve with a dish of parmesan to sprinkle over each portion.