Oven Risotto

I love risotto, it really combines so many delicious things into one dish. This one was in my Food Network Magazine, but I added a few things (chicken and more broccoli) to it to make it into a bit more filling dish that hits all the spots. The worst thing about risotto is all the stirring and adding of liquids. That's what makes this one great! It starts off the same as a normal risotto, but once you add ALL of the warm chicken stock and give it a quick stir you just pop it in the oven and stir it once more in the middle of the cooking time. So easy. We pretty much always have the ingredients on hand to make this and it takes less than an hour to pull together, making it a great weeknight (or weekend!) meal. There are a few dishes with this one so you may want to cook it in exchange for someone else to do the dishes!

Broccoli Cheddar Oven Risotto
(Adapted From Here)

Ingredients

4 cups chicken stock (I used Low Sodium)
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size chunks
1-2 bunches broccoli, cut up (Cauliflower is also great, or a mixture of both)
1 tablespoon oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 small yellow onion, finely chopped
1 3/4 cups arborio rice (I don't always use Arborio, basmati works just fine)
1/4 cup dry white wine (A cheap pinot grigio works great)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup hot water - you don't need this until the end of cooking

Directions:

Move your oven racks in to the upper and lower thirds of the oven, you'll cook the the risotto on the bottom rack while roasting the broccoli on the top rack.

Preheat to 425 degrees F.

Bring the chicken broth to a low simmer in a saucepan. Toss the broccoli with the olive oil on a rimmed baking sheet.

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large ovenproof skillet or braiser over medium-high heat. You'll want it to have a lid. Add the cut up chicken to the pan once its heated up and sear on all sides of the chunks, mostly cooking through. This will finish up over the remainder of cooking. (You can also cook the chicken through, remove it and add it back in at the end of cooking.)

Add the chopped onion with the chicken and cook, until slightly softened, this will take about 2 minutes.

Add the rice in on top and stir to coat, let the rice "toast" for 30 seconds or so before the next step.

Pour in the wine and cook until evaporated, about 1 minute. Add the hot broth, salt, and pepper to taste; bring to a boil.

Cover and set on the bottom oven rack. Place the broccoli on the upper rack. Bake, stirring the rice and broccoli once about 10 minutes through cooking.

It's done once most of the liquid has been absorbed in the rice and the broccoli is tender, 20 to 25 minutes.


Remove the rice and broccoli from the oven. Add 3/4 cup hot water, the remaining 1 tablespoon butter and the cheese to the rice and stir until creamy (add a little more hot water to loosen, if necessary).

Stir in the broccoli and serve.