Risotto isn’t one of those quick and easy, on the table in 20 minutes kind of dinners. You have to stand there and cook and stir and add stock for a looong time. But you know, when it’s dark and wet outside and you’re kind of fed up with everything, that’s okay. Sometimes you just want to stand there and stir something.

This roast chicken risotto recipe used to be my number one method of disposing of a dead body. There’s nothing like it to get rid of the evidence you had a chicken for your dinner than using it up in this delicious, simple risotto. But now I’m cooking a chicken every week, it would get a bit samey. If you try this, though, you’ll see why it’s my number one chicken disposal plan.

INGREDIENTS

• Knob of butter and a splash of olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 350g risotto rice
• 1 glass white wine
• 1.5 litres simmering stock (chicken would be best)
• Cup of frozen peas, defrosted
• Leftover chicken – half a chook max
• 50g grated parmesan

METHOD

• Melt the butter and add the olive oil to a big pan. I use a giant saute pan to make my risotto.
• Cook the garlic and onion together until translucent.
• Stir in the rice until coated with the butter.
• Stir in the wine and cook until evaporated.
• Add a ladleful of stock and stir, stir, stir – ever so gently – until the stock is evaporated. Then, repeat the process until you have just one ladleful of stock left. This is boring and dull, but not all cooking is about flamenco dancing around the kitchen with sharp knives, slicing lemons and throwing them at a great distance into fiery cauldrons of magical stew.
• At this point, add your chicken and your peas. I haven’t specified how much chicken, because this is a recipe for leftovers and that would, frankly, be madness. Who wants leftovers from a leftover recipe?
• Cook for five minutes, then stir in the parmesan cheese and serve.

Serves four adults.