I always thought Mr. Farmer didn't like risotto so I have never made a point of making it! Well wasn't I wrong. He loves it and so do the children. I have made this a few times now and each risotto gets better. I try and add something different to it to see if I can change the flavour profile a bit and hope that Matilda eats the mushrooms without complaint! It hasn't happened yet but when it does, look out! Let’s go…
I made this one day out of pantry and freezer staples and it was delish. I did it on the stove and stirred the bejeebus out of it and then decided that I needed to do it in the oven to save time. This would give me a chance to lock up the chooks and feed the dogs before it got too dark! Originally I used onions because I didn't have any leeks and they worked fine. I also used packet chicken stock, my friend Ms. G hadn't visited me yet and introduced me to the world of bbq chicken carcass chicken stock, and I didn't use mushrooms. Gosh my first attempt sounds totally boring! I guess it was compared to this baby. When I cook I try and minimise dirty dishes (I absolutely hate dishes and find them an utter waste of time) and make recipes easy to suit the busy working parent!
This is what I grabbed to start with: Mushrooms, bacon and chorizo, chicken, chicken stock, garlic, leeks and fresh herbs. To be a bit fancy I also used the truffle oil that I won from Simon Johnsone Providore back in May
Firstly, turn the oven to 180C. I wanted some fresh herbs so I walked out into the freezing cold weather and picked some fresh sage and lemon thyme out of the garden. I cut up two leeks, four chicken thighs and a chicken breast (Charlie takes a hot lunch every day for school in a thermos and Mr. Farmer loves a hot lunch on a cold day so leftovers are critical in our household), six rashers of shortcut bacon and a couple of chorizo. I had also defrosted 500ml of homemade chicken stock in the morning and pulled out another litre of store bought stock from the pantry.
A sneaky little tip that I will share with you is that I always spray the pot or baking dish I am using with canola spray so it washes easily in the dishwasher!
Start by sweating down the leeks in a bit of olive oil (or truffle oil if you have it!). You can add some butter as well but I was trying to cut down on the fat content to start with as I add some right at the end.
Once the leeks are soft and a yummy crust has formed on the bottom you add the bacon and chorizo. Stir it around until it is nice and brown. Work hard to scrape the crusty bits off the base of the pot as this is where a lot of the flavour comes from!
Add the chicken and keep stirring until it browns. I add a glass of white wine (thanks Fowles Wines) right about now and stir it so the liquid has almost evaporated. Then the mushies go in! Put the chicken stock in a 500ml jug and heat in the microwave for a minute, stir then heat for another minute. Whilst the chicken stock is heating up add two cups of arborio rice to the pot (again I was lucky to win an amazing prize from Simon Johnson for their mother's day competition) so I used their Carnoroli Rice . Keep stirring it around and make sure it doesn't stick!
Add the stock all at once and stir. Then heat up another 500ml of stock in the microwave. You can then add this and do the same for the remaining 500ml of stock. It looks a bit "soupy" but trust me, it's fine.
Whack it in the oven and put the timer on for 30 mins. While you are waiting fill up your stock jug with frozen peas straight out of the freezer. When the timer rings pull out the pot and give it a good stir. Add the peas and cook for a further 10 mins. Voila!
Add a knob of butter and some grated parmesan and put the lid on and let the butter and cheese melt whilst you set the table and yell at the family to sit up.
What I absolutely love about this dish is the simplicity of it and the ease at which you can put this together. With a bit of chopping and a tiny bit of stirring the dinner is on the table within the hour. And these are all the dishes you will have to do at the end!
Do you have a kitchen hack that is a bit of a secret in your household? Are you willing to share it with us?!
If you would like a printable PDF version of the recipe then please click on the "recipe" tab and you will find it there.
Hashtagaramas
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