Chicken Risotto Recipe - Easy Arborio Risotto with Parmesan

Name: Chicken Risotto Recipe - Easy Arborio Risotto with Parmesan
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 45 min
Cuisine: Italian cuisine
Ingredients: Rice 1 cup; Chicken 150 g; Carrot 1; Soup roots (celery, parsnip) 100 g; Onion 1; Garlic 2-3 cloves; Wine 100 ml; Olive oil 50 ml; Parmesan 50 g; Spices: black pepper, Mediterranean herbs, bay leaf, salt to taste

Chicken risotto is probably the easiest way to make a hearty, tasty breakfast. And in general, risotto is not hard at all.

Ask any Italian where risotto comes from. You will almost certainly not hear “Italy”. You will get plenty of answers: Naples, Liguria, Venice…

The vast majority of Italians are sure that risotto comes from their own province (town, village). Yet it is generally believed that risotto was born in Naples. Rice-eating culture in Italy most likely started right there. Somewhere back in the 14th century rice became a staple dish of the Neapolitans, although that is also debatable, but risotto with seafood has been eaten for a very long time.

Gradually the rice culture moved north, and today the northern Italian provinces are major rice producers. Risotto is eaten everywhere, and the word usually means not a dish but a way of cooking rice. Risotto is an exclusive way of cooking rice. There is no single recipe, and even the consistency of risotto differs greatly from region to region and from cook to cook, from a runny porridge to something close to pilaf.

First of all, you need to choose the right rice. Risotto is not made with ordinary parboiled or basmati rice. It needs high-starch varieties, usually Italian ones such as arborio, carnaroli, baldo, vialone nano and so on. Risotto rice is not simply boiled, it is toasted first, until the grains turn almost translucent. The second secret of risotto is that the liquid is not poured in all at once but added in small portions, one at a time, and the next portion goes in only when the previous one has been absorbed. Risotto needs wine, which is the first liquid the rice absorbs. Only then comes the stock. Yes, stock, not water. A small pot of stock usually stands nearby on a low heat, and the hot stock is added in small ladlefuls.

It is very important not to salt the stock. It is believed that salt dulls the aroma. Risotto needs cheese, preferably Parmesan, added at the very end, literally at the last moment. And one more thing: risotto goes to the table immediately, while it is hot.

Let us make chicken risotto, simple and tasty like all my risotto recipes. Along with arborio rice we decided to use boiled chicken and Italian Parmesan. Chicken stock works well for this risotto. I cook it together with the chicken, so the meat goes straight into the dish. The general rules of risotto are in the recipe for how to cook risotto. Risotto with pancetta is made on the same principle.

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Ingredients

2 servings

Rice 1 cup
Chicken 150 g
Carrot 1
Soup roots (celery, parsnip) 100 g
Onion 1
Garlic 2-3 cloves
Wine 100 ml
Olive oil 50 ml
Parmesan 50 g
Spices: black pepper, Mediterranean herbs, bay leaf, salt to taste

Step-by-step recipe

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Choosing the rice for risotto is an important point. The rice must be of reliably good quality. We use arborio or carnaroli, which are easy to find in shops. Do not rinse the rice either, as Italian cooks say.
Before you start the chicken risotto, take care of the stock. It is easy. Any chicken will do: fillet (white meat), wings, legs, thighs and so on. All that matters is that in the end you have the amount of chicken you want and a good chicken stock. For risotto made with one cup of rice you need three chicken drumsticks, but you can use more. Since rice absorbs three or more times its own volume of liquid, you need to prepare 3-4 cups of stock.
Pour the required amount of water into a pot. It is better to have some stock left over than not enough. Add the chicken and bring to a boil. Unfortunately, your chicken is most likely not free-range but raised fast, and such chicken will never give a good, clear stock.
I usually cook it this way, and it gives a good clear stock. I bring the chicken to a boil, and as soon as foam appears and the liquid turns cloudy, I pour off the first broth and rinse the meat under running water. Then I add fresh water and cook the stock. Say it is a forced measure, but an effective one, and the chicken risotto turns out well.
Peel the carrot, celery root, parsnip and maybe parsley root, and dice them. Add the diced roots to the stock along with one bay leaf and cook over a very low heat for 20 minutes. Do not salt, pepper or add any other spices!!! All the seasoning for the chicken risotto goes in while the rice is cooking.
For chicken risotto you simply need to make a stock. In other words, a broth of chicken and vegetables.
Take the pieces of chicken out of the stock and let them cool. Remove the bay leaf and discard it. Put the pot of stock on a very low heat. The stock should be hot, not boiling, but just on the verge of boiling.
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a deep sauté pan or a frying pan with a lid and let it warm up a little. As soon as you notice a distinctive smell, which is hard to miss, add the garlic cloves crushed with the flat of a knife. Fry the garlic until it turns slightly golden, then discard it. The garlic's only job is to flavor the oil for the dish, nothing more.
Peel and finely chop the onion. Fry the chopped onion in the olive oil until soft. Add a little salt and 0.5 tsp of dried aromatic Mediterranean herbs: basil, oregano, mint, savory, parsley and so on. There are excellent aromatic blends made only of dried herbs, without any “helpful” additives. You can also make such a blend yourself.
Add the rice to the onion. Stirring, fry the rice together with the onion and spices until it starts to turn a pearly, translucent shade. Then add 100 ml of dry white wine to the rice. This is important. Somewhere I read that after adding the wine you should sharply raise the heat so the alcohol evaporates. I think the alcohol evaporates during cooking regardless of the temperature.
As soon as the rice has absorbed the wine, the cooking begins. This is the most important stage!
Using a ladle, add the boiling stock to the rice in small portions, no more than half a cup at a time. The tiny cubes of roots in the stock will add extra charm and flavor to the risotto. Make sure the risotto simmers very gently. Add more stock only after the rice has absorbed the previous portion. A cup of arborio rice can absorb up to four cups of stock. The rice usually cooks for 18-20 minutes.
Cut all the meat off the boiled chicken and chop it coarsely. When the rice has been cooking for 10-12 minutes, add the chopped chicken. You can do this at the same time as adding the stock.
When the rice is fully cooked, soft and “flowing”, but each grain still keeps a barely perceptible firmness in the very center, the chicken risotto is ready.
Sprinkle the dish with grated Parmesan. The amount of Parmesan is up to you, more or less. Gently stir the rice with the chicken so the cheese melts. Divide the chicken risotto between plates. The consistency of the risotto is also up to you, but I recommend making sure the rice does not clump together and does not spill off the plate like a mushy porridge.
Before serving, I recommend seasoning the risotto generously with pepper. Still, everyone can do this to their own taste.
I would not garnish it or sprinkle it with herbs.