IT’S cold and miserable and you want something really tasty and warm to eat – and you want it now! Well, in less than 20 minutes, you can enjoy a risotto recipe, fantastically filling and bursting with flavour and fun.

Risotto has long been a favourite of the Italians, who create this delicious creamy rice dish with plenty of passion and with all sorts of combinations of fresh and flavoursome ingredients.

Sacla’ has created two risotto sauces in two recipes – wild mushroom and butternut squash and parmesan, recently shortlisted for the Pizza Pasta and Italian Food awards.

The little jars deliver an authentic risotto in taste and texture. Packed with lots of chunky ingredients and a heap of expertise, they are irresistibly simple and quick to cook – less than 20 minutes – and cost only £2.49 serving two to three people as a main course.

For details, visit sacla.co.uk.

INGREDIENTS

Serves 2

1 x 185g chicken breast
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small clove garlic, peeled and crushed, optional
1 level tsp thyme leaves, optional 190g jar Sacla’ mushroom risotto sauce
200g risotto rice
1 chicken stock cube
Knob of butter
1 heaped tbsp roughly chopped flatleafed Italian parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 190°C, 375°F, gas mark 5. Place the chicken breast in a small ovenproof dish, rub with the olive oil and garlic, scatter with the thyme, season and roast on the middle shelf of the oven for 15- 18 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

Tip the mushroom risotto sauce into a small saucepan. Add the rice, stock cube and 570ml boiling water. Bring to the boil, then reduce down to a simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently until creamy but ensuring that the rice still has some ‘bite’. If the risotto looks too dry before it has finished cooking, just add a little extra boiling water.

Remove the chicken from the oven and let it rest for a few minutes before thinly slicing.

Stir the butter into the risotto, season well, and add the parsley.

Spoon into a warm serving bowl, arrange the chicken slices on top and get ready for romance!