Sea bass with tomato and herb risotto

This risotto can be eaten on its own or goes perfectly well with white fish, like sea bass, or chicken. There was a huge shock horror of not having any normal or risotto rice, but only basmati!! However, I used the basmati and after a long cooking time in lots of stock, it did seem to work - although next time I will use a risotto rice. This is really simple, with the rice you only need a few tomatoes, some fresh herbs (I used parsley), chicken or vegetable stock, parmesan and a dash of cream or mascarpone. We pan-fried the fish so the skin was deliciously crispy, complimenting the soft, creamy risotto perfectly. I added pesto on top of the fish and in the risotto, but if you don't like pesto then it isn't a necessity. I served the risotto on a bed of spinach, and we had broccoli and green beans too, so apart from the dash of cream and bit of parmesan, this is a fairly low-sat-fat meal. The perfect meal if you want to impress!

Serves 2

- dollop of butter/margarine

- 1 onion, finely chopped

- 2 cloves garlic, crushed

- 100g risotto rice

- 3/4 chicken or vegetable stock cube, dissolved in 250ml water

- handful cherry tomatoes, quartered

- large handful of parsley, finely chopped

- drizzle of olive oil

- 2 sea bass fillets

- handful of parmesan, grated

- dash of single cream or mascarpone or crème fraiche

- few teaspoons of green pesto

- handful of ready washed fresh spinach leaves

1. Fry the onions and garlic in the butter until softened. Stir in the rice (it should start to look translucent). Add the stock mixture and cook for around 20 mins, or until the water is absorbed and the rice is soft - you may need to add more water as you go along - keep stirring and testing the rice.

2. Meanwhile, heat some olive oil in a pan and fry the fish for a few minutes on each side, until the skin is crisp, and the fish is cooked through (cut open to check)

3. Add the cherry tomatoes and parsley to the risotto and stir until combined (you can do this before all the water is absorbed). Add the parmesan, some cream and pesto, and season to taste. Make sure all the liquids are reduced.

4. Place the risotto on a bed of spinach leaves and top with the sea bass. Garnish with some pesto, parmesan, fresh parsley, and a few cherry tomatoes!

Enjoy :)