Risotto with Chicken and Lime
The eighties, nineties and noughties was a time of great change in the average Aussie kitchen. Evening family meals morphed from meat and potato plus two veg, a legacy of our English heritage, into dishes heavily influenced by “new” Australians from Mediterranean and Asian cultures.
Inspired by a recipe published in the now defunct “Epicurean” magazine, this was one of the very first risotto combos I ever cooked. Arborio rice was exotic then and I had to travel a great distance to buy it in Melbourne’s “Little Italy.” Today there are specialty rices in every supermarket.
Leah recently reminded me of this dish, so I revisited it after many years of cooking risotto ad lib. It is still good, rich as only risotto can be but with a wonderful limey zing. Enjoy with a side of leafy salad and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc.
Chicken & Lime Risotto (serves4)
1 onion, diced
2 stick of celery peeled and sliced
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
250g arborio or canaroli rice,
125ml white wine
500ml hot chicken stock,
Few strands saffron, soaked in 125ml hot stock for 5 minutes
Juice and zest 1 lime
2 Thinly sliced chicken fillets
2 large handfuls of fresh spinach roughly chopped
2 tsp lemon thyme
2 tsp French mustard
1/4 cup flakes almonds, toasted
30 g grated Parmesan cheese
Lightly sauté the chicken in olive oil. Remove from the pan and set aside. Sauté the celery and onion until translucent. Add the rice to the pan and stir to coat in oil. Saute until lightly browned then add the wine, the saffron with its stock, the lime and the garlic plus an extra ladle full of hot stock. Return to the pot to the boil, reduce the heat to a high simmer, then stirring frequently, continue adding hot stock as it is absorbed. When the rice is al dente, the only real test is to taste, add the chicken, spinach, thyme and mustard. Gently bring back to the boil. Remove from the heat, stir in the almonds and cheese, season to taste with black pepper and sea salt. Serve immediately.
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13 comments on “Risotto with Chicken and Lime”
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Please Pass the Recipe by Sandra Gay is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
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I love risotto… It just dawned on me that I’m always saying how I love whatever. The problem with me is that I really do love lots of things! Anyway, I truly do love risotto and my dad used to make it for me with porcini mushrooms or with saffron. My hubby watched my dad one day and wrote down exactly how he went about it and now he makes it for me. It is the one dish I’d rather someone make it for me. Strange, no? I’ll have to give hubby this idea with the lime as it sounds quite fresh and springy/summery!
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I just love food! I’m envious of your cooking hubby. Mine loves to eat, but as much as I have tried to get him involved in the kitchen, it just doesn’t happen. When it’s his turn to cook, we go out!
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Haha! Oh, I love to go out for good food!
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Such a delicious and different sounding risotto.
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Thank you
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I have never made risotto. I should give this one a try! 😀
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Fae, people talk about risotto being difficult to prepare, but I’m not sure why. It does require you attention for 20ish minutes, but most cooking does. This is a delicious version of risotto, not traditional, but good never the less.
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I love your presentation. Is that a bed of kale? Very nice.
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Thank you, they were leaves of rainbow chard.
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