One Skillet

Chicken and Tomato Risotta

This is an easy, one skillet dish that will spread smiles and fill stomachs. This is classic
home style Italian, and like I said, it's Very Easy to pull off. Serve with a salad and some
warm bread and you'll have no complants. This is hearty and flavorful enough to pair
with darker beers or full bodied red wines.
The things to remember with this are that you need to make sure that there is enough
availale moisture to thoroughly cook the rice. Next, once it starts to thicken and cook off
the extra moisture, you gotta keep stirring so it doesn't stick. Once the rice is cooked
through, then you can simmer off extra fluid to get the thickness you desire. Don't be
afraid to turn the heat up some at the end of your simmer until it's just the right
consistency. But don't rush the rice, which brings us to the last thing to remember. Plan
to give yourself enough time. You aren't just boiling rice in water, so it seems to cook
slower. You can make your mixture on the soupier side to begin with, though. So
expiriment with it. Your stove/skillet will cook things differently than mine, so keep that in
mind until you make this a few times. The size of my skillet, I can't add too much
chicken stock to start with, so I wll add fluid as it is needed.
It might not be a good idea to make this for the first time when you have a hot date
coming over for dinner, just because of the time factor. Get used to the way this cooks
on your stove before starting to try to nail down the time factor. THEN cook this for your
date. This will definitely impress! Now, on with the show....
Ingredients:
Meat & Marinade:
4 Tbsp Olive Oil
4 Tbsp Lemon Juice
4 Tbsp Sugar
2 Tbsp Paprika
3/4 to 1 Lb Cubed Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
Salt and Pepper
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Sauce & Rice:
2-4 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Cloves of Garlic, minced finely
1/2 Onion, chopped
1 Stalk Celery, chopped
1/4 Cup Parsley, chopped finely
2 tsp Basil
1/2 tsp Rosemary, crushed
1/2 tsp Oregano
1/4 tsp Thyme
2 cans Cut Stewed Tomatoes
2 Cups Chicken stock (or 1-2 bullion cubes, disolved in 2 cups HOT water)
1 Cup Rice (Not instant/minute rice)
Directions:
Start a few hours early by cubing the chicken, then marinade it in 4 Tbsp Olive Oil, 4
Tbsp Lemon Juice, 4 Tbsp Sugar, 2 Tbsp Paprika, and some salt and pepper.
I always save the thin plastic bags from the produce department at the store for things
like this
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Easy to store, and throw away when you are done saving clean up.
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This is also usually when I will cut the 1/2 Onion and 1 stalk of Celery.
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To me, very few recipes are set in stone. I tend to look more at ratios, since the number
of people I cook for is always changing. Because of that, I will usually try to have 1 and
1/2 to 2 times the amount of vegetables as meat for a dish like this. Since you cut the
chicken first, you can taylor the amount of onion and celery accordingly.... After some
practice, you can usually eyeball this pretty well.
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Roughly 2 times the amount of onion as celery....
Now is a good time to get most everything else ready. Once you start cooking, cutting
veggies or hunting down cans is usually not a good thing....
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Right before I start cooking the chicken I cut the garlic. The finer the better, because the
smaller the pieces are, the less cooking time to get the flavors. Less heat, less bitter
and more rich garlic goodness! Oh, and don't use the stem in the center of the clove.
Thats just bitterness without the good flavors...
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I start by cutting slices as thin as I possibly can, then cross cut. This is a case where the
sharper the knife is, the thinner you can slice the cloves. That's the key to the best
flavor possible...
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Now, lets start cookin'!
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Heat a large skillet or dutch oven with 4 Tbsp Olive Oil on medium high.
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Once you get the pan preheated, add the marinated chicken, and brown well
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Reduce heat to medium, and add garlic, onion, celery, and parsley. Sautee for about 5
minutes.
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You don't need as much parsley if you have to substitute dried for fresh.
Next, add the stewed tomatoes, basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, and chicken stock.
Salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, reduce heat , cover, and simmer 20 to 30
minutes, or until chicken is tender.
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Stir rice in to sauce mix. Continue to simmer another 30 to 45 minutes. Stir occasionally
to keep from sticking.
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As your sauce thickens, you'll need to stir more to make sure it doesn't stick, until you
are almost constantly stirring. Rice should be tender and liquid absorbed.
Remember, different kinds of rice need different amounts of water and cooking time.
You will need to adjust accordingly. Don't be afraid to add additional water if the sauce
thickens too quickly or the rice cooking seems to "stall".
Good luck, and comments are always welcome! Thanks for reading!
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