A few weeks ago, I was invited to a cooking class alongside a bunch of fab foodie bloggers to celebrate the launch of Tesco’s new lactose-free range. The highlight of the event, hosted by Tesco, was a cookery masterclass led by celebrity chef Lesley Waters. My favourite dish that night was the gremolata chicken, served with creamy pea risotto & lemon spinach. Scroll down if you want to go straight to the recipe!
As soon as we arrived at Jenius Social in Islington, we were treated to a great selection of canapés: seared steak with cheat’s béarnaise, mozzarella saltimbocca & blue cheese bruschetta with pear and walnuts.
The event, to showcase Tesco’s lactose-free range, was a very relaxed affair, full of fun and laughter. It was just like an evening out with friends, really. Lesley was generous with tips, lively and incredibly friendly. I also learnt a lot about lactose intolerance through a chat with renowned nutritionist Christine Bailey.
My mum always says she “feels funny and bloated” after eating cheese or cream, and it sounds like she could have become lactose intolerant.
How do you know whether you are lactose intolerant?
“Lactose intolerance usually causes gastrointestinal symptoms, such as gas, bloating, and diarrhoea, about 30 minutes to two hours after ingesting milk or other dairy products containing lactose. People who are lactose intolerant may benefit from eliminating milk containing foods in their diet.” (Christine Bailey)
When Jumpy was diagnosed with multiple allergies at just a few months old, I was struggling to find anything she could eat (other than what I would make from scratch). In the past couple of years, Tesco have really upped their game when it comes to ‘free from’ food. A lot of our favourites are Tesco’s own. I was really impressed by the range of dairy products available from Tesco for people with an intolerance to lactose: crème fraîche, mozzarella, mascarpone, blue cheese and yoghurts. Every dish served or cooked on the night included at least one of the lactose-free ingredients mentioned above.
We started our cookery masterclass with dessert, which needed to set. Tiramisu is one of my favourite desserts, so I was delighted we started with the creamy Italian treat. Lesley had made a tiramisu before we got there, and topped it with pineapple and passionfruit for us.
When I tried these babies later (I had to have a slice of each, for research purposes), I thought they just tasted like ‘normal’ cheesecake and tiramisu. The lactose-free ingredient certainly didn’t make them taste ‘free from’ or less indulgent.
We then moved on to the main course and it was a real treat for me: I absolutely love risotto but never make it at home because my husband wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole. With no further ado, here is the recipe Lesley was happy to share with us (and you guys!): Gremolata Chicken with Pea Risotto & Lemon Spinach.
Gremolata Chicken with Pea Risotto & Lemon Spinach
Ingredients
For the pea puree:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 175 g frozen peas
- 25 g fresh thyme roughly chopped
- 200 ml water
For the risotto:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves
- 150 g Arborio rice
- 150 ml white wine
- 700 ml hot vegetable stock
- 175 g frozen peas
- 3 tablespoons Tesco Lactose Free Crème Fraîche
For the gremolata chicken:
- 2 free range chicken breasts
- 2 medium free range eggs beaten
- 170 g gluten-free breadcrumbs
- 4 tablespoons flat leaf parsley roughly chopped
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Salt & freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tbsp rapeseed oil for shallow frying
For the spinach:
- 225 g baby spinach
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil plus extra for serving
- Juice of ½ a lemon
- Salt & freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Start by making the pea puree.
- Heat the olive oil in a pan over a medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook until softened (about 5 minutes).
- Add in the frozen peas and the boiling water. Season, then bring to the boil, cover and cook for a couple of minutes. Stir in all the thyme (stalks included) and cook for another minute.
- Blend until smooth, season to taste and set aside to cool.
Next, get started on the risotto.
- Wash and dry your pan and place it over a medium heat. Start by warming the oil then add in the chopped onion and cook for about 5 minutes (until soft and translucent). Add the crushed garlic cloves and cook for two more minutes.
- Stir in the rice and cook for a minute. Pour in the wine and cook until absorbed.
- Add in one ladle of hot stock and stir constantly, until the liquid has been absorbed. Repeat the process until you have used all the stock. This should take approximately 15 minutes, during which you can get started on the gremolata chicken (but don’t take your eyes off the risotto for more than a minute!).
- Sprinkle the frozen peas over the risotto and cook for a further 5 minutes, until the peas are cooked and the rice is just tender. Season to taste.
Make the gremolata chicken.
- Place the chicken breasts between two pieces of cling film. Using a rolling pin, bat out each piece to ½ cm thickness and season with black pepper.
- Mix together the breadcrumbs, parsley and lemon zest and season with black pepper and a little sea salt. Place on a plate. Dip the chicken quickly in the egg and coat with the crumb mixture.
- Heat the rapeseed oil in a large non-stick frying pan on a medium heat. Add the chicken and cook for approximately 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until the breadcrumbs are golden and the chicken is cooked through.
Prep the spinach.
- Shred the chicken into a mixing bowl and toss through the olive oil and lemon juice. Season to taste.
Serve.
- To serve, mix the risotto with the creamy pea puree. Spoon onto plates, stir through some crème fraîche and top with the chicken. Finish with a handful of the zingy spinach.
Check out what everyone else thought:
Becky at ‘Gluten Free Cuppa Tea‘
Rebecca at ‘All About U’
Jenna at ‘A Balanced Belly’
Sarah at ‘The Gluten Free Blogger’
Laura at ‘Five Little Doves’
Eilidh at ‘Mummy and Monkeys’
Nath at ‘The Intolerant Gourmand’
Lucy at ‘Supergolden Bakes’
Becky at ‘Munchies and Munchkins’
Have you ever bought lactose-free ingredients? What did you think?
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Disclosure: This blog post is sponsored by Tesco but as always, all opinions and photos are my own.
This all looks so delicious! I will definitely be trying this. Will have a read of the rest now.
Thanks Nadia. It’s definitely something I’ll be making again and again. It’s delicious!
This is such useful info and I’ll definitely be heading over to Tesco to check out their Lacto free range! That risotto looks to die for!
Thanks lovely. The risotto is out of this world!!
Looks great and it’s fab to know that Tesco have such a great allergy-friendly range. I’ve just developed an intolerance to soya and it’s in so many foods. I’ll check out Tesco’s range though and see if I can eat some things! Lovely recipe too.
Soya is a nightmare! When Jumpy was allergic to soya as a baby, I really struggled. I would cook absolutely everything from scratch then.
What a fun time you had!!! And this dish looks irresistible!! Yum!!
Thanks Felesha. We had such a fun evening cooking, laughing and eating loads!
This looks like such a fun event… and omg to that tiramisu!!
It was, and the Tiramisu was epic!
This recipe looks and sounds delicious! Also sounds like you had a fun and informational night learning from Lesley Waters. Thanks for sharing 🙂
She was so lovely, and gave us a lot of great tips.
YES! This is a gorgeous dish and one I’d happily devour!!! I really love that it’s dairy free!
It’s lactose-free. You could make it dairy-free altogether by removing the cream 🙂
I do love food events and this looks delicious! Could I substitute the chicken with salmon? 🙂
Salmon would work beautifully! Just make sure you dry the fish slightly by dabbing it with kitchen paper before coating it.
I love the Free from range at Tesco, we’ve been using lactose free products for the last few weeks and seen a real difference! It was a fab event and a pleasure as always to see you there. Xx
They’re great, aren’t they? I love the blue cheese. I might have nibbled on the lot with oat cakes….
This recipe came just at the right time! I love risotto but never cook it. I was saying to the kids last night i would find a recipe.
I cant wait to try it.
Looks like you had a great day too x
This recipe is to die for: tasty, creamy and it has some greens in: what’s not to love? Hope you love it as much as I do!
Oh this sounds and looks amazing. Going to pin to make it soon. Such fab photos too x
Thanks lovely lady! It’s really scrummy!
It was such a fun night, and that risotto was soooo good!! I’m so impressed by the lactose free range that Tesco have, such a good selection of products! ???? x #freefromfridays
It was a fab night and I ate so much! I was really impressed too by the range. Loved the crème fraîche so much I bought it again yesterday. x
This sounds and looks amazing and it looks like it was fun time making it too! My son and husband are both lactose allergic so this is something I need to try with them!
#freefromfridays
I hope you get round to trying it: it’s really delicious!
I’d have never through to make this but after reading this and seeing the photo’s I must try it sometime!
Thanks Jenna! It really is yummy!
This dish looks absolutely incredible! One for the weekend I think
It’s really yummy Emma! xxx
Looks like a great event – lovely photos of you lovely ladies too! Nice to see things becoming more readily available! x
It really was a brilliant evening!
Oh it looks like a lovely evening! And what utterly GORGEOUS photos!! That one of you and Nathalie in particular – love it! And what dreamy recipes…I’ll have one of each please 😀 Eb x
I really love that photo of Nath and I. One of the lovely ladies at the event took my camera and snapped away: I love a candid photo 🙂
This sounds so light and fresh. I never think of adding anything to my risotto. I always just have it as a dish in itself but this chicken would go down well in our house.
I love risotto on its own too but my husband would never go near it so we’d need something extra with it, hahaha!