chicken and sage risotto

The Italians have always been in the business of selling us things that are simple, delicious, and that we are usually too lazy to make ourselves. Risotto is one such thing.

It doesn't take long. It's not even particularly hard. It does, however, involve a concerted effort on your part, and you can't skip any steps.

The only gripe I really have with it, and that you might if you're a multi-tasker like me who likes to walk away and do other stuff while your food cooks, is that you have to stand over the stove most of the time, with at most a one or two minute break where you can run off and do whatever it is you have to do. But I promise it's worth it.

The lovely thing about risotto is that while you have to cook it a certain way, it is immensely flexible. Use rehydrated dried porcinis and mushroom stock. Use bacon. Use spring vegetables and veggie stock. Use shrimp or other seafood and fish stock. The possibilities are pretty much endless.

Here, I used chicken, 'cause I had it, and fried up a few sage leaves to go with it.

And it was awesome.

~*~

Serves 2
Total time: ~45 minutes

1 boneless skinless chicken breast
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 onion, diced
2-4 cups of liquid: half of white wine, half of chicken or veggie stock, or whatever strikes your fancy
4 tbsp butter
few sprigs thyme
5 sage leaves

Onions and rice in.

Melt 2 tbsp butter in skillet over medium heat. If you like your onions soft, add them first and cook until translucent, then add arborio rice. If you like your onions slightly crunchy (this is what I do, and I think they add a nice textural balance when you're not using any other vegetables) add them and the arborio rice to the butter simultaneously, stirring to coat the rice. Toast onions and rice for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Season with salt and pepper, but be careful if you've got salty broth. 

Stirred.

Now comes the subjective part. The amount of liquid you use will depend on the surface area of your pan, the heat of your stove...numerous factors. I usually just add a glug of wine, then alternate--stock, wine, stock, wine. The more wine you add, the tangier and more citrusy your risotto will be (not a bad thing) and the more stock, the earthier. Find your happy balance. Alternating keeps both pretty even.

Anyways, add a glug (about 1/4 cup) of liquid and stir. Stir every 30 seconds or so until the liquid has all evaporated.

Juicy.

Once it has evaporated, add some more liquid. If you add too much at once your risotto will not cook the way it should--I know it's tempting to dump all your liquid in, but you must persevere.

Nifty mid-pour photo. I should probably invest in a tripod.

More cooking...

Be sure to scrape the bottom of the pan occasionally to make sure nothing is sticking and burning.

And more cooking. I wish you could see the rice plumping up more dramatically, but from squinting at the pictures I don't really think you can. Oh well. Just know that it happens!

After about half an hour, give your risotto a taste. It should be al dente, not too hard. Once it reaches this point, melt 1 tbsp of butter in a separate pan. I let the butter brown before I add my chicken. Be careful not to burn it!

Once butter is browned, toss in diced chicken.

All those brown butter bits! Yum.

Your chicken should cook for a good 8 minutes--pink chicken is a no-go. If you're worried, cut into your largest cube to check for doneness. Once it's done, toss it into your risotto along with a splash more of liquid, and stir to meld all those yummy flavors.

Fried sage is one of my favorite things ever--if you haven't tried it you simply must. It makes a great crispy topper and really ties all the flavors together. It's as easy as it seems--just toss them in and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until crisp.

Once almost all of the liquid is gone from your risotto, add in your last tbsp of butter for creaminess. You can even add a touch of cream if you'd like, but I think it's just fine without. Plate and top with sage.

Bam. Easy, gorgeous weeknight dinner in under an hour.