Sausage Risotto

Try as I might to get an attractive photograph of this dinner, it just wasn't going to happen. All the odds were stacked against me: it was late and dark, I was hungry. You need to trust me though, this dinner is more than just the sum of it's parts. It's down right delicious actually, perfect for those cold days when you want something that amounts to a hug in a bowl. The photo above really is shocking, it's not the most attractive of dinners. It's certainly worth a shot though!

I was inspired to make it when I stumbled across this recipe from Smitten Kitchen but I played around with the ingredients a bit. This is one of those thrown together dinners so I don't really have any quantities, but that doesn't seem to have done me any harm so far. It still works, and it's still delicious. You'll need the following ingredients:

Sausages {Either sausage meat or remove the casing}
a tin chopped tomatoes
a pint of chicken stock
a few handfuls of spinach
paprika
salt & pepper
risotto rice
parmesan cheese {or the like}
an onion
olive oil 

I simply soften the onion in some oil over a medium hit before throwing in the bits of sausage meat to brown.  Next, add as much risotto rice as you need to feed you all and stir til it's coated with the oil and mixed with the sausage and onion. This is when a bit of patience comes into play as you stir in the stock and the tinned tomatoes a bit at a time, being sure to just cover the risotto rice with liquid every time.  Be sure to keep stirring most of the time and be prepared to be there for a good 25-30 minutes if you're cooking over a medium heat. Add your seasoning in at this point too, I love to add a hearty dose of smoked paprika to give it a real warmth and depth. Right at the very end stir in a big helping of spinach and parmesan cheese and voila, you've got the most delicious dinner that, although a bit time consuming, isn't really labour intensive. I've taken to using low fat sausages in ours, as a somewhat futile attempt at making this dish a bit lighter but I think it would be delicious with some really good quality, well flavoured sausages.

Love B x