Like all risottos this recipe requires some patient stirring, but the soft Arborio rice combined with chicken, mushrooms and peas makes it all worthwhile.

Back when I was a kid roast chicken was the highlight of our Christmas lunch. Unlike now we rarely had chicken, as they didn’t come prepared and packaged ready to cook and eat – Mum had to do that. The idea of turkey for Christmas lunch came along a deal later and I think the first one I cooked was probably in the late 70s and like this one had a forcemeat stuffing.

I’ve made this yummy chicken and mushroom dish lots of times. I either cook a chicken myself or buy a BBQ one from the supermarket. I halve the recipe using only one chicken, which is all you need unless you’ve got a really big crowd. It’s easy to make and I serve it with rice or noodles and salad and it works really well.

These are a great little idea – basically no chopping. Except for the chicken mince and the shallot the ingredients are things you’ve probably got in the fridge or cupboard. It’s just a matter of combining, shaping and frying the chicken balls and mixing up the sauce – easy as. While this recipe is for nibble size balls, you could easily turn them into patties for an easy entree.

I haven’t tried this rice lasagne, although I have made a chicken lasagne both with standard lasagne sheets and with Gluten Free ones. My original recipe uses plain flour like this recipe, but I simply substituted GF plain flour which worked fine. To be totally honest I’m not sure how close to lasagne this rice one would turn out, maybe it would be more a rice slice. I think you’d have to careful you didn’t overcook the rice or it could be quite soggy. Even so it’s probably worth a try.
