I don't believe this had to do with any special talent of mine. My theory is that arborio rice has some magical secret ingredient that makes everything it comes into contact with unutterably delicious. Now, I'm not Christian, but I try to avoid blasphemy all the same, so as not to offend anyone; nevertheless, the first thing I said after tasting this was, "Dear sweet Jesus." It's that good. And it's really not that hard to make! It just requires more or less constant attention, kind of like a puppy that you have for about two hours.
I used roasted beets and chicken. The beets turned the whole dish pink; I'm surprised restaurants don't make this around Valentine's Day. Normally I dislike the color pink, but I made an exception, because it tasted soooo goooood. Did I mention that?
Heaven on a plate.
And now I will tell you how to make it. I consulted four different recipes: Pioneer Woman's Red Pepper Risotto, The New Best Recipe recipe for risotto (page 217, I think, unless that's the recipe for roasted beets, in which case the risotto recipe is on another page), and two recipes from Epicurious.com (Roasted Beet Risotto and Risotto and Chicken with Beet Greens). Then I wrote out this recipe, which is sort of a mishmash of those four. It came out really well (wait, did I say that?); I like to triangulate when I'm trying new things.
Roasted Beet Risotto with Chicken
Ingredients:
2 roasted beets*
1 1/2 chicken breasts, cut in one-inch (bite-size) pieces
1 small onion, diced
3 1/2 cups chicken broth (I used fake-chicken bouillon cubes)
3 cups water
4 Tbsp butter (or 4 Tbsp olive oil - I used butter, but ended up adding a little olive oil as well)
1 tsp salt (start with a little less and add more, to taste)
2 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4-6 oz. goat cheese
black pepper to taste
*To roast beets: preheat oven to 425 F. Wash and dry beets, cut the stem to about 1". REMEMBER to poke holes in the beets with a fork so they do not explode in the oven. Wrap beets in foil and place them on a baking sheet; depending on your oven, they will take about an hour to cook. I checked mine at 45 minutes and left them in for another 15; when you can put a fork in them without much resistance, they're done. Remove from oven, open foil (carefully! There will be steam), allow to cool. Peel with a vegetable peeler or knife; use a paper towel to hold the beet with one hand and peel with the other, or else your hands will end up bright pink. Dice into bite-size pieces, and coat lightly with olive oil.
In a 4-quart saucepan, bring chicken broth and water to a low simmer. In another saucepan, melt butter (or heat olive oil); add onion and cook till translucent, about 5-8 minutes. Add salt and chicken pieces and cook for another 3-5 minutes. Add rice and cook, stirring often; add wine and cook, stirring, till the wine has been absorbed. (DO NOT skip the wine. It's important. TNBR says so and I believe it.) Add three cups of the broth/water, stirring infrequently. Allow to simmer until liquid is absorbed. Add more broth 1/2 cup at a time; continue cooking till rice is al dente, about 20 minutes. Turn off the heat, stir in Parmesan, beets, goat cheese, and black pepper.
Eat! Share with friends. They will love you forever.
Happy Friday!
What I'm reading: The Hakawati
What I'm listening to: The Beatles (the White Album)
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