Risotto with chicken, chorizo and artichoke

This has been a favourite dish in out household for long time.  I used to use a recipe that had just chorizo and artichoke in it, but the paprika from the chorizo was just a little too strong.  This version uses a blend of chorizo and fried chicken breast and it just takes the edge off the paprika.  Hope you enjoy it too!

Ingredients
200g chorizo sausage - whole sausage is best
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion
3 pieces of celery
A knob of butter
2 garlic cloves
1 small chicken breast
1 teaspoon oregano - fresh if possible, but dried is OK
1 teaspoon basil - fresh if possible, but dried is OK
200g risotto rice - I use arborio
1 small glass white wine
1ltr chicken stock
1 250-300g bottle of artichoke antipasti in olive oil, drained
salt & fresh ground black pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese to serve

Method
First, slice the chorizo into 1cm thick disks and fry in a dry non-stick frying pan over a medium heat until the sausage is starting to brown, turn over and repeat.  This will get quite a bit of the oil out of the sausage along with some of the paprika.  Now drain the sausage in a sieve and discard the oil.

Chop the onion finely, peel and chop the celery finely and crush and chop the garlic.  Cut the chicken into bite size pieces and bring the chicken stock to a boil then reduce to the lowest heat to keep the stock warm.

If you're reusing the frying pan (and why not?  It saves washing up!) wash it out, rinse and put back on a medium to low heat.  Once the pan is dry, add a tablespoon of olive oil and add the celery and onion and sauté gently until the mix is transparent but takes no colour.

Add the butter, garlic, herbs and the chicken and sauté for 3-4 mins on high until the chicken is just starting to brown - don't worry if it's still pink in the middle, it's going to be cooked with the rice for a lot longer.  Add the rice and mix well to coat the grains with the mixture, then add the wine and boil on a low to moderate heat until almost dry.

Now add the stock, one ladle full at a time and wait until that's been absorbed by the rice before adding another.  Repeat this until the rice is slightly underdone.  Now cut the artichoke into bite size pieces and this and your chorizo to the pan.  Add the salt and pepper to taste, plus some more stock if needed, cover and cook for a further 2-3 mins until the artichoke and chorizo is heated through.

Serve with chopped fresh basil if you have some and grated parmesan.