I hate wasting food!

Sometimes, when I’m at the supermarket, I get tempted to buy a chicken from the rotisserie. I’m sure everyone does sometimes. You can eat your fill with a nice salad, make chicken mayo sandwiches with the leftovers and then… there’s the carcass! Instead of throwing it away this can make a lovely broth or stock with minimal effort. Just stick it in a pot with any juices it came with, add roughly chopped celery, carrot, onion and a teaspoon of salt and barely cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1.5- 2 hours. Check for seasoning and if it’s too bland add a chicken stock pot but it should be tasty enough on its own. You can freeze this, make a nice soup or a lovely risotto.

I called this bastard risotto as I added some unlikely oriental flavours to a traditionally Italian recipe. In Italy I’d probably be put in stocks and pelted with tomatoes. But hey, I’m out of saffron!

Serves 2

Ingredients:

For the stock

1 carcass Roast Chicken

1 medium Onion halved

1 medium Carrot roughly sliced

2 stalks Celery roughly sliced

1 tsp. Salt

1.5 L Water

1 Bayleaf

For the Risotto

1 cup (250g) Arborio or Carnaroli Rice

2 cups (500ml) Stock

1 medium Onion finely chopped

3 sweet thin Spanish Peppers sliced

1 tsp Turmeric

1 tsp Cumin

1 dash Cayenne Pepper

1tbsp EV Olive Oil

1/2 Cup Parmeggiano grated

1tsp Butter

2tbsp Parsley finely chopped

Method:

Put the stock ingredients in a pot, bring to the boil and simmer for one and a half hours or longer. Test for seasoning and strain. This can be prepared beforehand and refrigerated or frozen.

Gently warm a tablespoon of olive oil in a wide shallow pan. Add onion and peppers and sweat till soft, about 10 minutes. Add the rice, stir and toast for a couple of minutes, stir in the spices for a further minute and start adding the stock. When it seems to be getting dry add more stock. After about 16 minutes add butter, cheese and parsley and stir. Check for doneness. It shouldn’t be too dry but nice and creamy

PS. For a more classic risotto you may omit the spices and add a pinch of saffron to the stock