Risotto is one of those things that's a little bit tricky when you first start to learn it, but once you've nailed it it's foolproof and you can just mess about with it and add whatever ingredients and flavours you fancy.
Cooking risotto needs care and attention but no particular skill. The main thing is to make sure that it doesn't burn or catch on the bottom of the pan, which you do by keeping the heat low, stirring regularly, making sure there is enough (but not too much) liquid in the pan and refusing to be distracted by anything. In short, you coat the rice in melted butter, add stock, and stir until it's done (there will be instructions on the packet, but normally around 25 minutes), adding small amounts of stock as necessary. While this is going on, chuck in whatever other ingredients you like - I've generally done it either with tinned tuna or smoked mackerel, plus whatever other tasty items happened to be hanging around in the kitchen.
We ate out the other week and my girlfriend had a chicken risotto made with red pesto that she really enjoyed, so I thought I'd do a version of it as I knew we had some green pesto in the fridge. It's the end of the month, so an excellent time to dig about in the back of the store cupboard and use up all those odds and ends.
Our local butcher does two chickens for £9 - not organic, but free range and locally produced. When we get them, we normally roast one and get them to joint the other. Last time we did this, it must have been the apprentice butcher who did it, because it came hacked into some very odd shapes. The last portion left in the freezer was a weird piece of breast meat with some inconvenient bone attached so rather than trying to cut it up raw, I roasted it in the oven, let it cool and then pulled it apart with my fingers.
As a rule, chicken on the bone (that is thighs, legs, wings and drumsticks) is cheaper (and tastier) than skinless, boneless cuts so my advice would be to do it this way unless you've got a real preference for white breast meat. I have a bit of a thing about chicken welfare, so I've lately taken to buying cheaper cuts but making it free range and organic, whereas I couldn't afford to regularly buy free range, organic breasts.
If you've bought a skinless, boneless piece of chicken you can cut it up raw and add it to the pan at this point.
You need short-grain rice for risotto. The rice I used today is labelled as being paella rice, but I honestly don't know what the difference is between that and what's labelled as risotto rice - as far as I can tell they cook in the same way and result in the same texture. Spanish and Italian foodies, feel free to shoot me down in flames!
A word on quantities. The packet of rice gives 50g uncooked rice for a starter, or 75g for a main course - quantities which tally exactly with the advice on the WeightWatchers website. Last time I made risotto I followed the packet instructions and there was far too much, so today I used slightly under 100g for the two of us. There was still too much, and I've put the extra in the fridge for another day.
Once the rice is all coated in butter, add some of the stock - just enough to cover everything - and give it a stir. Bring it to the boil, then back the heat off. You just want a really gentle simmer.
You've got from now until the rice is cooked to add all your other ingredients. Just make sure to keep an eye on the rice, stir it regularly so it doesn't stick and add more stock if it's getting dry. Don't put too much liquid in all at once, because the rice absorbs the water - in an ideal world you want the rice to be ready exactly as the last of the liquid has been absorbed or evaporated so that you serve it without needing to drain it.
Remember the pesto? It must have been in the fridge for longer than I'd realised because when I opened the lid I found mould growing in it. The label says it will keep in the fridge for "a few weeks" and I didn't think it had been in there for that long - obviously it had! I really must learn to label things.
Not the end of the world: I chucked in some dried basil, and as I've got a healthy basil plant I pulled some leaves off that, chopped them up and chucked them in too.
Once the rice is done (it's not possible to give exact timings, just keep tasting it until you're happy) serve with a handful more parmesan sprinkled on top. I meant to place a couple of basil leaves on top too, but I forgot. Never do manage those cheffy touches...
Risotto is all about the texture - creamy and luxurious - and this didn't disappoint. The roast chicken was tasty and the mushrooms gave it a nice bit of variety. You could taste the basil (one of my favourite herbs) but I really missed the pesto - I'd been looking forward to it. Never mind eh.
Financial verdict
One random piece of chicken - 75p from the butcher. Seriously! Two chickens for £9, jointed into six pieces. Alternatively, the supermarkets do packs of six free-range thighs for around £3. Use around one thigh per person, depending on their size (the person and the thigh). To my mind, this makes chicken breast from the supermarket look bloody expensive.
Onion - 30p
Mushrooms - 15p
Rice, stock cube, butter, olive oil, parmesan, basil - pennies, from store
60p per portion
The Skinny
Roast your inconveniently bony piece of chicken in the oven. Leave to cool, then pull the meat apart with your fingers and discard skin and bone.
Melt butter and olive oil (along with chicken juices from the roasting tray) in a pan. Gently fry a chopped onion until soft.
Add rice and move it around the pan until it's coated with melted butter. Don't let it stick or burn! Keep the heat low and keep stirring.
Add chicken.
Add a small amount of stock - to cover everything - and stir. Bring to the boil, then back off to a really gentle simmer.
Add mushrooms and parmesan, pesto if you have it, basil if you don't. Salt and pepper to taste.
Keep a watchful eye on it, stirring and adding stock little-by-little until the rice is cooked.
Serve with parmesan.
WeightWatchers ProPoints
5ish
I am definitely trying this tonight - and for once I have all the ingredients. It looks/sounds so yummy!
ReplyDeleteOh, found your blog by way of your gf's by the way.