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

This recipe comes out of one of my pasta cookbooks. I already make a meat lasagne and a chicken lasagne, so a seafood one has to be on the list as well. Obviously buying good quality white fish, scallops and prawns would make an excellent dish, but you could also go for the cheaper option and buy a generous amount of marinara mix. It mightn’t be quite as good, but it would certainly be a bit more affordable.

I recently went to a paella cooking class at Pizzini Wines in the King Valley, so when I came across this Jambalaya recipe my first thought was how similar it was to paella. Apparently the main difference is in the spices. Paella uses saffron and Jambalaya, cayenne pepper. With the cost of saffron, making Jambalaya looks like a great idea.
