Kym's Chicken and Mushroom Risotto

On a cold Adelaide evening my husband's Chicken and Mushroom Risotto is a winner. He started making this version of Risotto about ten years ago, after finding the recipe in an Antonio Carluccio cookbook.  Kym's made a few changes.  I don't think Antonio would have used the chilli or coriander!

Preparation time is 15 minutes and cooking time is about 30 minutes.  Kym's recipe serves 4.

Ingredients

2 diced skinless chicken breasts
300 grams of diced mushrooms of your choosing
Bunch of diced coriander leaves
2 to 3 large cloves of garlic
1 large red chilli
1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
Pinch of saffron
Generous handful of peas or snow peas
50 grams of grated fresh pecorino
1 litre of chicken or vegetable stock
1 tablespoon of black truffle oil
200gms of butter
2 cups of Italian Arborio rice.

Method

Melt 50 grams of butter in a deep frypan on a moderate heat.  Add diced chicken and brown.

Remove chicken and set aside in bowl. (At this point the ritual is to share a cooked cube of chicken with each guest as an appetiser along with a glass of South Australian wine.  Perhaps a pinot gris in summer,  or a shiraz in winter).

Deglaze the pan with a small amount of stock. Throw in diced garlic and diced chilli.  Turn heat to low and sweat until garlic and chilli soften.  Add diced coriander. Leave for a couple of minutes.  Add another 50 grams of butter to produce a glossy base and then add sliced mushrooms.  Stir to coat mushrooms with melted butter.  Add half a cup of stock and cover with a lid for 5 minutes.

Once mushrooms have softened remove lid and add dijon mustard. Add remaining butter.  Stir.  Add rice. Stir rice until all the rice is coated with liquid. Leave for 1 minute. Gradually add stock until all rice is submerged.  Cover with lid. Check rice every 3 to 4 minutes, adding more stock as necessary to keep rice submerged and stir to prevent sticking.

After 15 minutes of this process, the rice will begin to soften.  Test softness of rice by tasting. When rice is soft add peas and saffron.  Leave uncovered to allow rice to absorb remaining liquid in the pan. Probably about 3 to 5 minutes.  When the liquid is 50 per cent gone, add cooked chicken pieces, black truffle oil and stir constantly for 1 minute.  Turn off heat and add grated pecorino.  Stir constantly until all cheese has melted and the rice is now sticking together with little liquid remaining.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Scoff.

Tip... if more stock is needed and you have run out, just add water.