Baked Chicken, Lemon and Pea Risotto [#209]

The first challenge recipe from Donna Hay - another brilliant Aussie cook. The main challenge with Donna was choosing which book to major on (they are all great - stylish, imaginative and simple) and then which recipes to select (ditto). I settled on this one with slight trepidation, as previous attempts at other recipes for baked risotto produced results akin to savoury rice pudding....hmm. However, Donna's recipe was much more successful - leeks, risotto rice, lemon zest and juice, frozen peas and chunks of chicken - leftover from a roast last night. At the end, the interesting addition of chopped mint stirred in with Parmesan took it off in an unusual and tasty new direction, with nice al dente rice, and not at all puddingy. The reason the texture was better than other attempts was, I think, down to a higher stock to rice ratio than usual - about 1.5x stock to rice. Really nice recipe, and we'll make it again!