Lemon chicken and pea risotto recipe

This delicious and healthy lemon chicken and pea risotto recipe is so easy to make at home. It will take only 45 mins to prepare and cook this dish which is pretty speedy for a risotto. This recipe serves 4-6 people. It's a great way of using up leftovers too - a portion of rice that's leftover in the cupboard, a serving a chicken from your roast dinner on Sunday or those frozen peas that have been rattling around in the freezer for months. Other vegetables like courgette, green beans or broccoli would also work well in this tasty chicken risotto. You can use long grain rice if you don't have risotto rice. This dish is best made and eaten on the same day but if you have any leftovers make sure they cool quickly and pop into an airtight container in the fridge to store until needed. Reheat thoroughly until piping hot.

Ingredients

• 450g leftover cooked chicken
• 1 lemon
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
• 240g frozen peas
• 125g babycorn, sliced into circles
• 220g risotto or long grain rice
• 1tbsp olive oil
• 1tsp butter
• A few torn leaves of herbs
• 600ml chicken stock

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6. Wash the lemon and finely grate the zest. Place the chicken strips in a deep tin. Pour the lemon juice and grated zest over and cook in the preheated oven for 15-20 mins.
2. Meanwhile, heat the butter, garlic and olive oil together in a large wide saucepan, add the rice, and stir to coat the grains with the oil. Heat the chicken stock and keep it simmering on the top of the stove, next to the risotto pan.
3. Gradually add the stock to the rice, stirring, allowing each lot to be absorbed before adding the next. Add the frozen peas and babycorn slices when you've used up about half of the stock. When all the stock has been used up, add the chicken strips and stir thoroughly until piping hot. Add the herbs and serve straight away.