Oven Baked Sausage & Tomato Risotto

I was talking to a friend on the phone the other day that I speak to maybe once every 3 months.  When we talk it's like we never skipped a beat.  We've been like it for years.  We certainly don't always see eye to eye on things but we're OK with that.  Anyway, last time we chatted she was making risotto. I've made a vegetable risotto before but it got me thinking about making something different for a change so google & Taste.com were visited.

This is what I came up with...

INGREDIENTS
1 tblspn oil (if you need it)
725g italian sausages
1 brown onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
3 celery stalks, sliced
400g can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, to serve

METHOD
1.  Preheat oven to 180deg C.  Heat oil in a 12 cup flame proof casserole or ovenproof saucepan (such as my new Como Advanced Saute Pan from The Chefs Toolbox) over medium heat. Fry sausages for 10 minutes, turning until browned and almost cooked. Remove from pan.

2.  Add onion to saucepan, and more oil if you needed.  Cook for 5 to 8 minutes until soft.

3.  Slice sausages into bite-sized pieces.

4.  Add rice and celery to saucepan.  Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring.  Add sausages, tomatoes, stock and water.  Stir.  Remove from heat. Cover with lid or foil.

5.  Transfer dish to the oven & cook for 30 to 35 minutes or untilalmost all the liquid is absorbed and rice is tender, but firm to the bite.  Serve sprinkled with parsley.

I left mine in a little too long so I sprinkled each plate with water before serving it up.

It turned out we're not huge fans of italian sausage. Lol.  It was still pretty good though.  Even after two had two lunches from the left overs there was still PLENTY left too.  I think we could almost half the recipe next time.  I'd like to try it with extra lean pork sausages I think.

Do you have a favourite risotto recipe you'd care to share??

Bye for now, K