Risebbo (Risotto)

Risotto!

Sorry for the lack of posts in the last few weeks coursework unfortunately has been taking over my life for the past month and I'm afraid today will be the only short respite for some time...

Anyway I promised a chicken recipe some time ago and finally, here it is!

Risebbo - Chicken, Zucchini and Lemon Risotto.

What you'll need to make this recipe: (Serves 8 people so divide your ingredients accordingly!)

• 4 Chicken breasts
• 2 large zucchini (or courgette)
• An onion or two shallots
• 4 cloves of garlic
• A lemon or two (or some lemon juice)
• 1kg of arborio rice
• 3 litres of stock (chicken is best but vegetable or anything else is fine)
• Fresh basil and thyme
• Dried spices such as cumin and coriander 

1. Chop the onion and throw in a large deep frying pan with plenty of oil or butter

2. Crush and chop the garlic and add it in.

3. Once the onion is starting to soften add the chicken chopped into small bite size peices.

4. Now add the dried spices such as cumin, coriander and some salt, pepper and sugar. You can add others if you wish but this is what I used to start with.

5. Squeeze about a tablespoon of lemon juice into the pan with the chicken, remembering to keep stirring and shaking the pan to seal the chicken all over.

6. Grate about a quarter of one lemon's zest into the pan

7. Once the chicken is sealed (white all over with no pink showing) turn down the heat and add the sliced zucchini. I sliced mine length ways using a peeler and also in circles.

8. Once the zucchini starts to soften add the rice.

9. If the pan gets very full you may want to split the ingredients into two pans at this point. I used two because you add a large volume of stock which could overflow the pan.

10. Make sure all the rice is coated and shiny on all sides. Now add stock to cover the rice, bring to the boil and then turn the heat right down again and allow to simmer.

11. Once the level of the liquid falls below the level of rice, add more stock and repeat until all the stock is gone.

12. Continue to simmer, adding more lemon and seasoning to taste, until there is no stock visible and the rice is fully cooked. It should still have a slight bite to it but not crunchy at all.

13. Add some cream if you have any and grate a small amount of cheese if you wish or let your guests grate thier own. 

 14. Serve with slices of lemon and parmesan or any cheese you fancy