Chicken And Mushroom Risotto

Ingredients

• 1 tsp olive oil, plus more if needed — staple
• 75g streaky bacon, chopped (optional)
• 500g chicken thigh fillets, cut into bite-size pieces
• 400g Swiss brown mushrooms, sliced
• 30g butter — staple
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 125ml dry white wine (optional — sub water or stock)
• 1 1/4 cups (250g) arborio rice
• 1 litre low-salt chicken stock, plus extra if needed
• 35g freshly grated parmesan
• 15-50g butter, to finish — staple
• Chopped parsley, to serve — optional garnish, skip
• 1 head cos lettuce, washed and torn
• 1 telegraph cucumber, sliced
• 3 tomatoes, cut into wedges
• 1 carrot, grated
• olive oil + lemon juice or vinegar, to dress — staple

Method

1. Heat 1 tsp oil in a wide pot over high heat. Cook the bacon until golden, then transfer to a small bowl.
2. Leave about 1 Tbsp bacon fat in the pot (top up with oil if needed). Brown the chicken in two batches until cooked through, then transfer to a bowl.
3. Add the mushrooms and cook until light golden. Add to the bowl with the chicken.
4. Turn the heat to medium, melt the 30g butter, then sauté the garlic and onion 3 minutes until softened.
5. Turn the heat up, add the rice and stir 1 minute until the grains turn partly translucent.
6. Add the wine and cook, scraping the base of the pot, about 2 minutes until the alcohol smell is gone.
7. Drop the heat to medium-low. Add about 750ml of the stock and leave it, uncovered, stirring once or twice, until most of the liquid is absorbed.
8. Add the remaining stock 125ml at a time, stirring between additions, until the rice is cooked to your taste — around 20 minutes total.
9. Return the chicken and mushrooms towards the end, just to heat through.
10. Add a splash more stock so the risotto is slightly soupy, then take it off the heat.
11. Stir in the finishing butter and parmesan vigorously — this is what makes it creamy. Loosen with more stock if you want it soupier.
12. Side salad: toss the torn cos, cucumber, tomato and grated carrot with oil and lemon juice or vinegar while the rice finishes.
13. Serve immediately, topped with the reheated bacon and extra parmesan, salad alongside.

Notes

- Meat ≈500g per 4 servings per house rule (125g/serve). The source's 350g thigh was a little light, so it's nudged up to 500g; bacon and stock are back at the source's 75g and 1 litre — the rice ratio doesn't change. - Risotto doesn't reheat well, so cook it the night you're eating it. Serve straight away. - Swiss brown mushrooms have far more flavour than white buttons here; portobello also works. - Skip the bacon if you'd rather — add a bit of extra oil for browning the chicken. - Veg sweep: mushrooms alone were under target, so the house Side salad (cos, cucumber, tomato, grated carrot, oil + lemon) is now a required side, ~160g veg/serve on top of the mushrooms; calories +50 and protein +1. Garlic and onion lost their staple markers; parsley is now an optional garnish with no shopping line.