The protein cooking time listed in this recipe has been updated.
As of December 2025, we've revised cooking times for all our proteins to reflect improved food safety guidance.
Check out the latest recommended times in our Cooking Guidelines.
Serving size
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 1 handful of fresh basil
- 20g pine nuts
- 600g diced British Free Range chicken breast
- 2 courgette
- 1 onion
- 3 garlic clove
-
40g Soft Cheese (Milk)(10% fat cheese base (skimmed milk, cream, bacterial starter culture), salt)
-
10g chicken stock powder(Chicken Stock Powder(Chicory Extract, Yeast Extract, Natural Flavouring, Salt, Onion Powder, Chicken Stock Powder, Rapeseed Oil), Cornflour)
-
500g cooked short grain brown rice(Cooked Wholegrain Risotto Rice 97% (Water, Risotto Rice), Sunflower Oil, Salt.)
- 1 unwaxed lemon
- 150g peas
-
4 tbsp green pesto(Rapeseed Oil, Broccoli, Spinach, Broad Beans, Basil, Sunflower Seed, Garlic, Salt, Yeast extract powder (Yeast Extract, Salt), Pumpkin Seeds, Porcini Mushrooms, Kale, Golden Linseeds, Citric Acid, White Quinoa, Ascorbic Acid.)
Allergens
Contains:
Milk
Nutritional Information
Nutritional Information
| Typical values | per 100g | per portion |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 127Kcal | 676Kcal |
| 531kJ | 2828kJ | |
| Fat | 5.1g | 27g |
| of which saturates | 1.0g | 5.1g |
| Carbohydrates | 12g | 61g |
| of which sugars | 1.4g | 7.5g |
| Protein | 9.3g | 49g |
| Salt | 0.29g | 1.6g |
| Fibre | 1.4g | 7.5g |
High protein
5 plants
Low sat fat
Family classics
Pesto Chicken Risotto with Peas & Basil Pine Nut Drizzle
Flavours straight from an Italian garden: basil pesto, peas and courgettes. Starring our new quick-cook risotto-style rise and juicy free-range British chicken. The final flourish? A zesty lemon and pine nut drizzle.
Cooking Instructions
Cooking Instructions
Before you start
- Pull out a large frying pan, a small bowl & a measuring jug
Get started
- Heat the large frying pan on medium heat. Once hot, add the pine nuts and toast for 2-3 mins, tossing regularly, until golden brown. Remove and set aside
Sizzle the chicken & prep
- Reheat the large frying pan with 1 tbsp oil on medium-high heat. Once hot, add the chicken and cook for 7 mins, stirring occasionally, until golden. Season with salt and pepper
- Meanwhile, dice the courgettes into 2cm chunks. Finely dice the onion. Finely chop or crush the garlic
Simmer simmer
- Add the courgette and onion to the chicken pan and cook for 5 mins, until softening, then add the garlic and cook for a further 2 mins
- Stir in the soft cheese, stock powder and 350ml hot water and bring to a boil. Add the rice, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, then simmer for 3-4 mins, until the sauce has thickened and the chicken is cooked through
Make the basil & pine nut drizzle
- Finely chop the basil. Roughly chop the toasted pine nuts
- Add both to the small bowl with the juice from half the lemon, 1 tbsp olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper
Finish & plate up
- In the final 1 min, stir the pesto and peas into the risotto. Add a squeeze of lemon juice (or to taste) and season with salt and pepper. Add a splash of water if it's a little thick
- Check your chicken is cooked through by cutting a large piece in half; the flesh should be white and the juices running clear
- Serve the risotto onto plates, drizzled with the basil and pine nut drizzle
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