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When it’s a snowy, cold day and schools are closed down, this lemon chicken risotto recipe just may become your saving grace. It’s made from leftover chicken. Easy to prepare and delicious to eat.
This chicken risotto recipe post was originally published on February 4, 2011. Images and post were updated and it was released again on August 24, 2015.
My kids were thrilled to hear that school was cancelled Tuesday due to the impending Snowpocalypse. When they went to bed Monday night we had already gotten the call(s) and thought it best to let them sleep in and surprise them in the morning. Another way to say this would be that my Husband and I wanted to watch a movie and we knew we would never get them to bed if they knew.
They need their beauty sleep, do they not?
So when they woke up in the morning, after 9 am, it was like Christmas morning. They were giddy with excitement, like we had never been home for 24 straight hours before! They immediately began making a list of the things that they wanted to do.
1. Play Tiger Woods golf
2. Slide on stomachs on the deck to see who can slide off into frozen grass
3. Watch all of the Harry Potter movies
4. Monopoly tournament
And the list went on…and on…
I ,however, was prepared for this ice day off. I had already made my to-do list.
1. Clean the dogs crates
2. Clean out inbox
3. Get rid of 4 tall piles of magazines: clip and save all recipes and interesting material. Organize said material and place into color coded folders.
4. Dust the whole house, Swiffer, finish the laundry, etc
And my list went on and on…..
In reality, I never got to item 3. The color coded folders idea was ridiculous anyway ????
I chose instead to make use of several leftover items in my refrigerator. 1/2 bottle of dry white wine, 3 large cooked chicken breasts, 1/2 bunch of flat leaf parsley and some shredded cheese leftover from a dinner we had eaten on Sunday night.
A recipe began forming in my mind …
The result of my cabin fever cooking was this delicious lemon chicken risotto recipe!
Total Servings 6
This creamy lemon chicken risotto recipe is really easy to make, and versatile, too. You can make it with any leftover protein and/or vegetables in your fridge.
5 minPrep (inc. refrigeration & rest time)
20 minCook Time
25 minTotal Time
Ingredients
- 2 TB olive oil
- 2 TB of butter
- 2 medium leeks. remove thick green tops and thinly slice
- 3 small cloves of garlic
- 3/4 TSP of dried thyme
- 2 C Arborio rice
- 1 1/2 C dry white wine. ( I used Chardonnay)
- 5 1/4 C stock or broth
- zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 2 C cooked chicken, cubed
- coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
- 3/4 C Parmesan and Romano cheese. (Any white cheese will do but this is what I used.)
Instructions
- Add olive oil and butter to a large, deep skillet. Heat to medium. When butter has melted add the leeks and saute for 1 minute or until translucent. Add garlic and thyme and saute for another 30 seconds.
- Next, add the Arborio rice and wine. Stir 1-2 minutes or until wine is absorbed.
- Stir in 3 C broth/stock. Reduce heat to medium/low and simmer, uncovered, until broth is absorbed, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes.
- Add the lemon zest at this time along with the remaining 2 1/4 C broth.
- You will see that the rice is becoming tender and creamy. Now you can fold in the chicken and cheese. Give a few squeezes on the lemon and add as much juice as you want, to taste. I like a heavy lemon taste so I squeezed all of the juice I could from this lemon.
- Reduce heat to low and continue to gently stir the rice, letting the flavors mingle.
- Serve immediately.
I served this with sauteed asparagus and a fresh crusty bread. This meal would go nicely with a nice glass of Chardonnay. Since it was a snow day at home I thought I would splurge a little. That and my kids were climbing the walls so I felt the little glass of white wine was necessary at dinner.
If you’re looking for another delicious and easy risotto dinner, you should check out my recipe for sausage risotto.
