I must admit, I don’t often buy ready made meals, mostly because I worry about the preservatives in them. On a recent grocery run, I stopped to check out the different types of ready to eat meals available. I was surprised at the gourmet options available these days. I was shopping for Pitango’s Free-Range Chicken and Mushroom Risotto and found it chilling in its brightly coloured pack along with some of its other preservative free Pitango buddies.
I invited my mom (a great cook) over last night for dinner. I prepared my salad and heated the risotto in a saucepan on the stove top. It was so effortless to prepare and I hardly made a mess (good news for me)!
When I called, “Dinner’s ready,” my diners were impressed with how the meal looked and smelled. I sprinkled some parmesan on top of the risotto, poured some organic Sauvignon Blanc and we all dug in. The first thing my husband said was “so all you had to do was cook the chicken and add it in?” He was impressed when I replied “no, just warmed it up.”
What we immediately liked about this risotto, were the chunks of chicken and mushroom. It tasted fresh and home made. You could tell the chicken was quality (free range in fact). My diners gobbled it up, enjoying too the rocket, pear and walnut salad I prepared. I should have taken credit for making the risotto from scratch – hehe! Mum said she would be looking out for it in the shops. As she lives alone, it’s a simple, tasty and nutritious meal for her to prepare.
Pitango Organic Chicken and Garlic Risotto with my Rocket, Pear and Walnut Salad
This recipe serves 4
Ingredients:
1 x 1kg pouch of Pitango Free-Range Chicken & Mushroom Risotto
200g rocket
1 small cucumber, sliced thinly
2 ripe pears, cored and sliced into thin wedges
Juice of 1 sml lemon
1/2 cup walnuts
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
1-2 tsp honey
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Parmesan cheese (to taste)
Method:
1. Place pear wedges into a small frying pan/griddle on a medium heat, tossing occasionally, until lightly golden. Set aside.
2. Place washed rocket and sliced cucumber in a bowl.
3. Create dressing by blending up walnuts, lemon juice, mustard, honey and olive oil until roughly chopped. Save a few walnuts to garnish salad.
4. Pour the risotto into a small saucepan and bring to the boil over a medium heat stirring occasionally, until heated through.
5. Add cooled pear to salad bowl. Dress salad and serve with risotto. Grate some parmesan cheese on top of risotto just before serving.
About Pitango
Pitango produces a range of soups, curries and risottos sold across all major supermarkets and most independent chains. Pitango are passionate about high quality real food and are committed to organic farming and stewardship of the environment. Pitango maintain close relationships with their farmers meaning their meat, poultry, fruit and vegetables come straight from the farm to the factory. Pitango carefully select the finest quality ingredients and use simple techniques to bring out the best flavours of all their seasonal, organic and free range produce.www.pitango.com.au / www.facebook.com/PitangoAustralia
Disclaimer: I received a voucher to purchase the ingredients for this recipe. All opinions are my own and based on my trial if this product.
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