Every Christmas, families love devouring a delicious turkey together. After that comes the tricky part: making the leftovers interesting!

In this post, we present to you the risella, an idea come about through the joining together of paella and risotto. Give it a go and it could soon become a festive favourite for you and your entire family!

First of all, here’s what you need:

1 onion

1 green pepper 

A couple of cloves of garlic

A cup of risotto rice (long grain or any other sort won’t work here)

Turkey stock (or chicken stock) – 3 cups or as much is required to make the dish wet but not soupy

As much leftover turkey as you dare

Olive oil – as required

First of all, dice your pepper and onion and chop up your cloves of garlic while chucking a ‘glug’ of olive oil into your pan. When the oil is heated through, allow your onion and garlic to sauté gently for a few minutes. They should caramelise a little but be careful not to burn them.

After you have done this, add in your pepper and let it soften. Then, add your rice and coat it in the oil. Allow it to cook for just a minute before slowly adding your turkey stock. By doing this as you would for a regular risotto (small amounts at a time that can absorb into the rice and give the rice flavour) you can judge how much you will need to use. Remember to keep stirring all the time to stop it sticking and to help ensure the rice is cooked evenly.

As it is starting to look like the finished product, add another glug of olive oil to make it extra unctuous and cook it for a couple more minutes (stirring all the while) before serving immediately!

While this is a risella in its purest form, feel free to experiment by substituting the peppers for peas or adding in cheese or anything else that takes your fancy!

Enjoy!