I initially found this as a vegetarian recipe, but decided to make a few changes by adding chicken and some more vegetables to make the dish more nutritious and filling. It is relatively low in fat and super delicious. The quantities in this recipe fed my family of 4 for two consecutive nights. I hope you try and enjoy it.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 large fennel bulbs, base trimmed
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 medium brown onions, diced finely
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 400g arborio rice
• 350ml white wine
• 1L warm/hot chicken stock
• zest of 1 lemon, finely chopped
• approx 50g grated parmesan or pecorino
• 1 tspn olive oil
• 1 large chicken breast, sliced through the middle
• 2 bunch asparagus (12-16 stalks), chopped into thirds
• handful of butter beans (15-20), ends trimmed, then halved
• 5-6 squash
• Sea Salt and cracked black pepper

 

METHOD:

•  Pan fry chicken breast in a teaspoon of olive oil for approx 2-3 minutes per side (depending on thickness) over high heat until just cooked through, then set aside to rest for use later.
• Then use the same pan to cook asparagus for 3-4 minutes until browned slightly and softened slightly. Set aside for later.
• In a small saucepan, bring some water to the boil, then add squash. A minute later, add butter beans. Cook in slowly boiling water for a further 2 minutes or until tender. Then drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process. Slice each squash into 4-6 slices. Set aside for later.
• Chop any green fennel fronds and set aside. Cut off the stalk-like fennel tops and finely chop. (The large bulbs are to be finely chopped and set aside for cooking spearately later)
• In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, put 1 tablespoon of butter. Cook onion, garlic and chopped fennel stalks in butter for a few minutes until soft but not browned. Add the rice and stir for 1 minute. Add 300ml of white wine and simmer for a couple of minutes until wine has evaporated, stirring occasionally. Then, add a ladleful of chicken stock and stir until it is absorbed. Add another ladleful of chicken stock and stir until absorbed. Keep repeating this process until almost all the chicken stock is gone (reserving approx 50ml of stock for use later). Once this is completed, take it off the heat and stir through grated parmesan and lemon zest, adding salt and pepper to taste. Slice cooked chicken breast against the grain and stir through the rice. Put lid on saucepan and leave to sit for 15 minutes.
• In another saucepan over high heat, put 1 tablespoon of butter and finely chopped fennel bulbs. Cook for approx 6-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until fennel has browned nicely. Then add remaining 50ml wine and 50ml of stock. Leave this to cook down until liquid has evaporated (approx 5 minutes), stirring occasionally.
• Now it’s ready to serve. And the kids will love helping out with this part. Spoon an appropriate amount of rice/chicken mixture into bowl. Take some asparagus and butter beans and stick them into the rice. Then scatter some slices of squash around. Then top the dish with some of the browned fennel, and if you like, you can add the fennel fronds also. Voila!

My kids lapped it up. Partly because it was delicious, but also because they felt invested in the dish, having put their own bowls together themselves.

To make this dish vegetarian, remove the chicken from the recipe and substitute vegetable stock for the chicken stock. Alternatively, for something different, you could substitute some cooked prawns instead of the chicken breast.