Risotto with Chicken and Vegetables

We LOVE making risotto. We make it once every 1-2 weeks. What we love so much about risotto, is that you can put so many different things in it. We've made risotto with just about every single vegetable! We have always wanted to make it with chicken and boy are we glad that we finally did.

This risotto is defintely on our top 5 list. It is VERY good. You have both your meat and veggies in this dish so all you need to do is serve this with a nice salad.

Enjoy this recipe!

Serves 6
Ingredients:
2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cubed

5 tbsp olive oil, divided

All purpose flour

1 onion, chopped

5 cloves garlic chopped

1 lb button mushrooms, thinly sliced

3 carrots, thinly sliced

2 stalks celery, thinly sliced

1 leek, washed well and thinly sliced

2 cups arborio rice

1/2 cup white wine

4 cups simmering water, flavored with chicken boullion cubes

3 tbsp butter

3/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese

Salt and pepper

Method:
Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté the chicken until well browned and cooked through. Place onto a plate and keep warm.

In the same large saucepan, heat 2 tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, mushrooms, carrots, celery, and leek. Cook until mushrooms are just beginning to brown. Add rice, stirring constantly, and cook 5 minutes more, making sure rice does not brown. Add wine, stirring constantly, and let totally evaporate. When wine is evaporated, begin adding stock 1/2 cup at a time, letting each addition evaporate before adding the next addition. You will probably need to do this 5-6 times.

After last addition of stock is added, begin tasting rice. Rice should be al dente when done. You need to keep tasting rice, because, depending on rice, you may or may not have to use all of the stock.
After last addition of stock is absorbed, remove from heat, and stir in chicken, butter and pecorino cheese and season with salt and pepper. Serve!

Chicken Marsala

I got this recipe from Katie on Good Things Catered. Our friend Sarah was coming over and we cooked this for dinner for everyone. We thought it was good, but maybe next time we would use less marsala wine and maybe substitute some with chicken broth. We served it on top of whole wheat linguine! I definitely would make this dish all the time, but want to play around with it to make it perfect for me. I liked the pancetta in this recipe because it helped balance the sweetness a little. My mom really liked it and said it was better than some of the restaurants she's had this at before! =)

Ingredients:4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (5-6 oz each), fat trimmed

1 c. unbleached all-purpose floursalt and ground black pepper

2 Tbsp oil2 ½ oz. (about 3 slices) pancetta, cut into 1 by 1/8 in. pieces

8 oz. white mushrooms, sliced (about 2 c.)

1 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 tsp tomato paste

1 ½ c. Marsala (I only like dry, the recipe calls for sweet)

1 ½ Tbsp juice from lemon

4 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces

2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley leaves

Directions:-Pat the chicken breasts dry.

-Place flour in a shallow baking dish or pie plate.

-Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper.

-Working with one at a time, coat both side of chicken with flour.

-Lift the breast from the tapered end and shake to remove excess flour and set aside.

-Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large 12-in heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering.

-Place the floured chicken in a single layer in the skillet and cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes.

-Using tongs, turn the cutlets and cook on the second side until golden brown and the meat feels firm when pressed with a finger, about 5 min longer).

-Transfer chicken to the heated plate and return plate to the oven.

-Return the skillet to low heat and add the pancetta.

-Sauté, stirring occasionally and scraping the pan bottom with a wooden spoon to loosen the browned bits, until the pancetta is browned and crisp, about 4 min.

-With a slotted spoon, transfer the pancetta to paper towels to drain.

-Add the mushrooms to the pan and increase the heat to medium-high.

-Sauté, stirring occasionally and scraping pan bottom, until the liquid released by the mushrooms evaporates and the mushrooms begin to brown, about 8 min.

-Add the garlic, tomato paste, and cooked pancetta and cook, stirring constantly, until the tomato paste begins to brown, about 1 min.

-Off the heat, add the Marsala.

-Return the pan to high heat and simmer vigorously, scraping browned bits from the pan bottom, until the sauce is slightly syrupy and reduced, about 5 min.

-Off the heat, add the lemon juice and accumulated juices from the chicken.

-Whisk in the butter, one Tbsp at a time, until incorporated.

-Stir in the parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste.

-Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve immediately.