Jo Pratt gives her recipe for a healthy and comforting risotto dish. 

“Cold, wintry days usually leave you craving comfort food. The trouble is most of the time the food you crave isn’t the healthiest of choices. The risotto recipe here is perfect. I have tried to make it as healthy as possible without compromising on flavour and you should still get that comfort food fix you so desperately require.” Jo Pratt.

Serves 4

Preparation and cooking time: 30 mins

What You’ll Need:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 2 large chicken breasts cut into bite-size pieces
• 350g risotto rice (we used Riso Gallo)
• Couple of stalks of rosemary
• 1 large glass of dry white wine
• 1–1.2 litres hot vegetable or chicken stock
• 200g Tenderstem® broccoli, cut into 2-3cm pieces
• 50g finely grated parmesan cheese

1. Heat the olive oil in a deep, heavy-based frying pan or sauté pan. Gently cook the onion and garlic until they are soft but not colouring at all. This should take about 5 minutes. Stir in the chicken, and fry for 3-4 minutes.

2. Add the rice and rosemary and stir for about a minute until the rice looks slightly translucent. Pour in the wine and stir continuously until it has cooked into the rice. Add a good ladle of hot stock and season with salt and pepper. Turn the heat down so the risotto is simmering gently and then keep adding ladles of stock as it cooks into the rice, stirring and moving the rice around in the pan.

3. After about 12-15 minutes, stir in the Tenderstem® and continue stirring and adding the stock for 5-8 minutes until the rice is soft but still with a bit of bite left in it. The texture of the risotto should be thick and creamy, but not too loose. Add extra stock or hot water if necessary.

4. Remove the cooked risotto from the heat, and stir in the parmesan cheese and add any extra stock if the risotto seems particularly thick.

5. Spoon the risotto into warmed bowls and serve.