Chicken and Mushroom Risotto

I can relate to all of the Italian food lovers out there. From fettacine marinara to spaghetti cabonnara to beef lasagne to marguarita pizza to saffron risotto to tiramasu to chocolate gelato, Italian food makes one of my favourite cuisines. It's simple, easy and delicious. I'm blessed to have a mother with a wonderful ability to cook, especially Italian food. So I have grown up with fantastic rich tomato pasta sauces. An italian tip: always add salt when boiling water for pasta. The water boils quicker at a higher temperature and it gives extra flavour to the pasta.
Leaving that aside, one of my favourite things to cook would have to be... risotto. Here's a neat recipe that goes down a treat. Serves 8 persons.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups (880g) risotto rice
• 2.5L chicken stock
• 500g chicken thigh fillets
• 2 brown onions (diced)
• 1/2 cup (125ml) dry white wine
• 100g button mushrooms (cut into quarters)
• 4 rashers of bacon (cut into thin strips)
• 1 1/2 tbs thyme leaves (dried or fresh)
• 40g butter
• 125ml olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Method:

1. Put the stock on to boil
2. In a separate fry pan, fry up the onions with the garlic for a few minutes before adding the chicken thighs and cook until the chicken has turned white. (just ensure that you start to cook the garlic a few minutes after you put the onions in as garlic cooks much quicker then onion and is more likely to burn)
3. Add in the mushrooms and bacon and continue frying for 3 more minutes
4. Season with salt and pepper
5. Add the risotto rice and fry for 2 minutes more
6. Pour in the wine
7. Slowly add ladles of boiling stock to the pan. Wait for all the stock to absorb into the rice after each ladle before adding the next. Continue until all of the stock is gone
8. Add the thyme, butter and cheese. Stir throughout
9. Take off the heat and serve immediately

If you like, you can always add peas to this recipe. Just stir in a cup of peas 5 minutes before the end of the cooking time.