Chicken, roast pepper & spinach risotto

A risotto, when done right, can be tasty, hearty and moreish.

Serves 2
4 chicken thighs in small strips *see poached chicken thighs in techniques*
500ml chicken stock
1 onion finely diced
250g arborio rice
Small glass of white wine
1 red pepper
50g spinach chopped
2 tbsp grated Grana Padano

Put the stock in a pan and bring to a simmer. Saute the onion in olive oil and a touch of butter. When it's browning slightly, add the rice.  Turn it in the oil and lightly saute for a couple of minutes. then add the white wine. Mix this into the rice and start adding the stock. Add a ladel full at a time, stir the rice occasionally until the stock is soaked in. Keep adding and stirring until the rice puffs up.

While the rice is cooking. Pre-heat the grill. Halve and de-seed the peppers and place under the grill, skin side up. When the skin starts to blister, turn over. Grill for another minute until they start to dry. Put half the red pepper and half the spinach into a blender with a ladel of stock. Blitz to a puree.

As the rice starts to soften, add the pepper puree. Stir this in, the same way as the rest of the stock, this allows the flavours to develop into the rice and gives it a great colour. Then add the chicken and rest of the roasted pepper and spinach. Keep stirring and a little stock until  it becomes al dente, the starch starts leaking from the rice to become creamy and the chicken is warm. Stir the Grana Padano in and serve. A fruity Pinot Grigio or Kiwi sauvignon blanc will match well with the sweetness of the peppers.

Potato Gnocchi Carbonara with Spinach

This is a take on the classic Carbonara. There are many places that will serve a Carbonara sauce with cream, however in Italy they make the sauce simply from the egg and olive oil. Instead of serving it with spaghetti, I've put it with homemade Gnocchi. There are some good shop bought versions, this just works out a lot cheaper.

500g kilo of waxy potatoes
200g plain flour
125g pancetta cut into lardons
2 eggs
50g Grana padano/Pecorino grated fine
2 tbsps of chopped flat leaf parsley
50g chopped baby spinach

First, make the gnocchi. Boil the potatoes in salted water until they start to fall apart. Drain and add them back to the pan. then warm to help them dry. Mash them to a smooth consistency. Throw a load of seasoning in and add the flour a bit at a time  until you form a firm dough. Then knead the dough for a couple of minutes. Roll this into sausages (about 1cm thick) and cut into little rectangles (3cm wide.) Put a large pan of water on to boil and add lots of table salt.

For the Carbonara sauce, warm some olive oil and add the pancetta (you can add streaky bacon, but it's not as good.) Brown on a medium heat then add the spinach and some black pepper and let it wilt on a lower flame. In a separate bowl add the eggs (some recipes state just yolks, but you'll need 4,) cheese (Pecorino is the classic, but Grana Padano works just as well and is much cheaper than Parmesan,) parsley and a good hit of black pepper. Mix until well combined.

Put the gnocchi in the water and bring to a simmer. After a couple of minutes when the gnocchi floats to the top scoop it out with a slotted spoon and add it to the pan of pancetta. Mix the gnocchi in the oil and add to the bowl of egg mix (including the olive oil.) As the you stir the gnocchi, spinach and pancetta in the egg, it slowly cooks and creates a sauce.

Serve with a decent, chilled dry white, possibly a white Rioja, and some good bread.