By Marie Muccio
Creamy, delicious and totally satisfying; a heartwarming chicken and mushroom risotto needs to be on your dinner table this winter.
I love a good risotto. There is something so undeniably comforting about it, both in the cooking and the eating. It’s a recipe that once perfected, becomes a staple and is so versatile as pretty much anything can be added to it.
Some of my favourite variations are chicken and mushroom of course, pea and ham, chorizo and mushrooms, gooey cheese risotto and spring vegetable. Like I said though anything goes!
It’s easy to make restaurant quality risotto at home by using the right process and techniques. The secret to making creamy risotto is to cook it slowly, stir it often and add as much liquid as the rice requires.
The base of any good risotto consists of butter, onion, garlic and white wine. When you add the rice, before adding any liquid stock, you want to make sure every grain of rice is coated in the lovely butter and wine. Then It’s about being patient as you add the stock, one ladle at a time, and stir. Do not be tempted to add more stock until the stock in the pan is completely soaked up by the rice.
It’s equally as important to have a good quality, heavy based pot to cook your risotto. A skillet is perfect because of the heavy base but also because there is enough room for the risotto to be cooked evenly.
Finishing off your risotto is also just as important as starting it right. A knob of butter, a generous shaving of parmesan and some parsley will take the risotto to another level of comfort.
Finally, let the risotto sit for 5–10 minutes before serving. This allows all the flavours to settle and will make it taste even better.
Serve in bowls with some extra Parmesan if desired.
Enjoy!
Ingredients
50 g pine nuts
500 g button mushrooms
3 garlic cloves crushed
small bunch flat leaf parsley finely chopped (reserve some for garnish)
1 tbs olive oil
800g chicken thigh fillets cut into 1cm pieces
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1.5 litres chicken stock
40 g butter
1 onion diced
1 celery stick finely sliced
2 cups arborio rice
1 cup white wine
½ cup parmesan plus extra to serve
Method
- Heat a large skillet or heavy based pot on low heat. Add the pine nuts and toast until they start to turn golden. Set aside
- Add the sliced mushrooms to the same pan together with 1 garlic clove and the parsley. Dry fry the mushrooms until cooked, approx 5 minutes. Season to perfection. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
- Return the pan to medium-high heat. Add a good splash of olive oil and add the chicken, 1 clove of garlic and thyme. Season well.
- Cook for 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Transfer to a bowl and cover with foil until needed.
- Place the stock in a small saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer.
- For the risotto, return the skillet to the stove on medium heat and add half the butter.
- Sauté the onion, celery and 1 clove of garlic until the vegetables begin to soften.
- Add rice and stir, ensuring every grain is well coated. Pour in the wine to deglaze the pan. Once the wine has completely evaporated turn the heat down to low. Add 1 ladle of stock at a time and stir through the risotto. make sure the stock has been absorbed before adding the next ladle. Continue this process until the rice is cooked but still has a bit of a bite to it. This will take approximately 30 minutes.
- Add the pine nuts, mushrooms, chicken with their juices, remaining butter and parmesan. Gently stir through until combined. Test for seasoning. Leave to rest for 5 minutes then ladle into bowls with some finely chopped parsley and a generous grating of parmesan cheese.
