Risotto, or is it Paella?

What really is the difference between an Italian Risotta and a Spanish Paella? I'm neither Italian or Spanish, so maybe I should just call this 'wet rice'. Really nice Paella's come with alot of seafood, meat and cream, but unfortunately we are on a budget here. Anyway, this short grain rice is an easy way of making a filling meal out of virtually nothing. Today I had something more of a 'one pot wonder' - which could be a sort of fall back dish for those who are sick of pasta, but not very inspired. After opening and closing the cupboard three or four times... hungry and hoping that I will magically see something that wasn't there five minutes ago, I remember I have a packet of Risotto rice.

Risotto Rice, Lidl ( £ 1.49 / 1 kg )
Small amount of cooked left over chicken breast, Superfoods ( £ 2.20 / large breast )
Cooked and peeled King Prawns, ASDA ( on offer at £3 / 180 g )
A tablespoon-ish of filling mix from the gyoza
Sliced black olives in brine, mystery jar
A tablespoon-ish of Balsamic Vinegar, Tescos ( £ 1 / 250 ml )
Red Wine Vinegar, Sainsburys ( £ 1.15 / 100 ml )
Small amount of milk
Some water

I actually weigh out 100 g of rice, as this rice expands and I'm never really sure by how much. Then I scoured the kitchen for other ingredients. The chicken breast was left over from one I cooked for it's sandwich meat, so I diced this. Then I cut off the tails from five prawns that had been left from something I had meant to make with the gyoza. Everything listed including the brine went in to a wok, stirred about bit, made sure the rice was submerged, then I placed a pan lid over the rice and left it to simmer for ~15 minutes. Then I served with a tiny bit of grated cheddar. The whole process was barely more effort than a microwave meal.

This kind of meal is where a few spices, and strong flavours, like the vinegars make up for a lack of some of the more expensive ingredients. Next time I will remember to take photos.