Herbed Chicken Risotto

From wineandanarchy.blogspot.com

This delicious dish comes courtesy of my good friend Lauren, who recently posted this on her blog as well.  It's so good, I had to post it here too.

This was my first time ever making risotto.  It was time-consuming but well worth it.  Actually, the onions were the most time-consuming part.  I think it would even be good as a side dish without the chicken and onions.

Ingredients

1 ½ T. olive oil, divided

1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced

Pinch of sugar

5 c. low sodium chicken broth

2 c. water

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, halved

4 T. unsalted butter, divided

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 c. Arborio rice

1 c. dry white wine

1 c. Parmesan cheese

1 t. lemon juice

2 T. minced fresh chives

Salt & black pepper

Directions

Heat 1 ½ t. olive oil in a skillet over medium-low. Add the onion and sugar, stirring to coat. Allow the onion to cook until deep golden brown and caramelized. Remove to a plate and set aside.

In a large saucepan combine the chicken broth and water and bring to a simmer. Meanwhile, add the remaining 1 T. olive oil to the onion pan and heat on medium-high. Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Heat in the skillet, turning once, until each side is light golden brown. Remove from the skillet and transfer to the saucepan with the simmering broth mixture. Cook until no longer pink and the thickest part reaches 165°. Remove the chicken from the broth and set aside, but keep the broth mixture hot.

Add 2 T. butter to a large pot (but less than 8 quarts) over medium heat. Once melted, add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the rice to the pan and stir to coat. Keep stirring until the rice grains are translucent around the edges, about 3 minutes.

Add the wine and cook, stirring constantly, until fully absorbed, about 3 minutes. Stir 5 cups of the hot broth mixture into the rice. Reduce the heat to medium low, cover and simmer until almost all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is just al dente, 16-19 minutes, stirring twice during cooking.

Add 3/4 c. of the hot broth mixture to the risotto and stir gently and constantly until the risotto becomes creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the cheese. Remove the pot from the heat, cover and let stand about 5 minutes.

While the rice is cooking during the 16-19 minute stretch, cut the chicken into bite sized pieces. Stir the chicken and onions into the risotto along with the remaining 2 T. butter, lemon juice, and chives. Season with salt and pepper to taste. If desired, add up to 1/2 c. of the broth mixture to add moisture. Serve immediately.

It was so good, even Daisy was looking for some!

I had never caramelized onions before, and I don't think mine were quite there.  They were good nonetheless!  The original recipe called for fresh parsley, which I omitted because I did not have any.  Also, my rice reached al dente before all of the liquid had absorbed, so instead of letting it all absorb and then adding the additional 3/4 broth, I just proceeded to adding the cheese.  It still turned out delicious!

Yields: 4-6 servings