I’ve made risotto’s for a number of years now. I love the simplicity of the dish, building layers of flavour as you go. I’ve always stuck to a simple method taken from the late great Gary Rhodes, obviously you can’t go wrong what this god-like-genius did!

The emphasis around this dish – making the most of food, using all of Sundays roast left overs. I’ve recently written a post about a Japanese curry I made using the leftovers from a lamb roast I did which was exceptional. As well as the added flavours from the roast it’s the satisfaction knowing nothing has gone to waste as food and money are precious!

Here are the leftovers I had to play with….

Basic risotto ingredients

250g or arborio rice, large knob of butter, 1 litre of either chicken or vegetable stock, 1 onion diced, a good glug of white wine, large handful of chopped parsley, large handful of grated Parmesan, plus whatever you want the dish to be focused around, on this occasion my Sunday roast left overs which were – roast chicken, carrots, green beans, peas, sweetcorn, swede mashed potatoes and stuffing for texture. Instead of the stock I used the leftover gravy which was made from the roast chicken juices as again I wanted no wastage.

Method –

In a large high sided pan melt the butter.

Once the butter has melted add in your diced onions and fry for 5/6 minutes until nice and translucent.

Add in your arborio rice. Stir around the pan coating the grains with the butter / onion mixture.

After a minute or so of mixing around the pan add in your white wine, give a good glug, don’t be afraid to add a nice amount. Also, don’t be afraid to pour yourself a drink, cooking is about fun and expressing yourself!!

You then want to cook out the wine so you have none left in the pan as you want the rice to absorb it. This should take about 5 minutes or so depending on how generous you were with the wine 👍

Once the wine has cooked out it’s time to turn to the stock. As mentioned, I’m not using the normal stock method as I’m utilising the leftover gravy from the previous day.

Ladle the gravy / stock onto the rice one ladle at a time. Allow this again to cook out as you want the rice to absorb every piece of flavour.

Stir occasionally and add stock, that’s the process for the next 10 minutes or so, oh and drink your wine !!!!

Whilst the rice was cooking the stock was being reduced I started to build up the layers of flavours. Started with the leftover vegetables.

Followed by the chicken meat.

Give the pan a good stir, adding more stock followed by the chopped parsley. Let this continually come to a simmer which will intensify the flavours ❤️

For texture and flavour I added the stuffing mix plus I wanted nothing going to waste.

The kitchen smelt great. The flavours were building as the dish had the elements added. Once you’re happy with the texture of the rice to finish the dish add your grated Parmesan and mix well into the dish. This will give the dish a nice creamy feel to it.

The dish is finished.

Such a tasty way to enjoy leftovers. The cost of the rice and parsley from Sainsbury’s was £3. So for £3 you have a brilliant tasty meal utilising the leftovers.

Thank you for reading my ramblings if you have got this far, I really appreciate it.