Sausage and Thyme Risotto

It is now, most definitely, Autumn. The sun is rising later, the temperature is dropping, and I've found myself stocking up on some of my favourite comfort foods to get me through the colder months and to stave off the inevitable sniffles that accompany it. Autumn is my favourite time of the year: cold enough to excuse eating heartier meals without wanting to smother myself in 5 extra layers just to keep the chill out.

One of my favourite meals for the autumn is risotto - specifically butternut squash risotto, for when I'm ill with a cold, feeling a bit sorry for myself and just want something hearty. Today is just one of those days where I'm feeling a little sorry for myself because of the sniffles (I'm not even a fresher and I've got fresher's flu. This wasn't part of the deal!), but it hasn't yet reached peak squash season and I wanted to deviate from my feel-better routine. A quick rummage through the freezer found two lonely sausages that looked just perfect for dinner, and an idea was formed.

Sausage and Thyme Risotto

Time to make:
Calories per portion: 480
Cost per portion:
Portions of your 5 a day: 2+

You will need:

• 1/4 onion, diced
• 1 tsp chopped garlic (I use lazy garlic because I am just that: lazy)
• 75g arborio (risotto) rice
• 2 sausages (I used the Cauldron lincolnshire sausages, but this can work with both meat and vegan alternatives)
• 50g frozen peas
• 1 Knorr vegetable stock pot
• 500ml water
• 2 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• Olive oil, for frying

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius (or whatever is appropriate for your sausages) and place your sausages on an oven tray. Timing-wise, this works better if your sausages are defrosted as you'll need them in about 20 minutes - if they're not defrosted, no problem, just wait about 10 minutes before starting to fry your onions.

While your sausages are cooking, fry the onion and garlic in a frying pan on a low heat until translucent and soft. Boil 500ml of water to make your stock, and the risotto rice. Don't allow it to burn, you just want to lightly toast it, so keep it moving until the water is boiled and ready to mix with the stock pot. You can do this in a saucepan or, if you're like me and want to keep washing up to a minimum, you can just mix it in a large mug.

Add the frozen peas, half of the thyme and about a third of the stock, stirring slowly. Unfortunately risotto isn't one of those chuck-everything-in-the-pot-and-leave-it dishes - it needs stirring almost constantly to release the starch and stop the rice sticking together. When the stock is mainly absorbed add another third and keep stirring.

By this time your sausages should be cooked - if they're not, reduce the heat on your risotto and add just a small amount of stock, keeping it moving to stop it from burning on the bottom. Take them out of the oven and cut into small chunks to add to your risotto - if you used meat sausages you can save some of the fat and add it to your risotto for extra flavour. Add your sausage chunks, the rest of the stock, the rest of the thyme and continue to stir until it's all absorbed and ready to dish.

Done right, risotto can be such an easy and healthy meal to make and it's so versatile - from vegan to meat-lover there's a variation for everyone, and both Dan (my meat-loving boyfriend) and I (as a strict vegetarian) loved it. Yum!