6 Ingredient Supper (Roasted Chicken & Risotto)

It’s nearing noon and I have no plan for supper.  My friends, this rarely happens at The Schell Cafe and when it does it causes the Mama to get a little panicky.  I refuse to go to the store today, and time wouldn’t allow anyway, so I pilched what was left in the produce basket and searched the pantry.  I have six worthy ingredients from which to make dinner:

chicken breasts

olive oil

onion

garlic

parmesan cheese

peas

carnaroli rice

Whoops. That’s seven ingredients, isn’t it? Let’s not get lost in details, friends.  Remember I’m in a fragile state of mind.  What to do? What to do?  Why my stand by roasted chicken with 1 million cloves of garlic and risotto, of course.  I make roasted chicken so frequently it barely raises an eyebrow anymore.  Even with 1 million cloves of garlic its getting a little predictable.  So, I’m breaking my very own rule and will make risotto to give the roasted chicken an unexpected flair.  My rule is this.  I don’t make risotto until the temperature finally feels like fall.  Which in Central Texas generally happens mid-November.  But, the littles absolutely love risotto and since I made them work so hard last night, I should spoil them a little.

Excuse me while I go crank up the air-conditioner.

Risotto is not hard to make. It’s just that you have to stir. And stir.  And stir.  And it gets hot standing in front of an open flame stirring for 30 minutes.

First I roasted the chicken breasts.  Which is so simple it’s embarrassing.  Here’s my nothing-fancy-straight-and-simple way to roast chicken breasts.

2 breasts, bone in, skin on

1 million cloves of garlic (maybe a scant one million)

olive oil

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.  Wash and pat chicken dry.  Place chicken skin side up in baking pan.  Toss garlic all around chicken and bake in oven for 15 minutes.  Take pan out of oven, brush chicken with olive oil, sprinkle with salt & pepper.  Turn chicken over, brush this side with olive oil, s&p.  Bake 10 minutes.  Take pan out of oven.  Turn chicken back to skin side up.  Brush again with olive oil. Shake garlic up and move it around a bit in the pan to make sure it’s getting all nice and golden.  Bake 10 more minutes.  At this point, my chicken is always roasted to perfection, but be sure to test that you have completely cooked the poultry.

Clearly I am a fan of roasted garlic.  That is 1/2 million cloves, by the way.

Risotto with Peas

olive oil

one small onion, diced

1 cup peas

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1 cup risotto

water/chicken broth

I didn’t really measure any of this today, remember I’m crunched for time and all.  But risotto is very forgiving since you slowly add the chicken broth/water in small batches.

First, add some olive oil to the heavy, non-stick saucepan.  Add chopped onion and saute for about 3 minutes or until the onions are translucent, but not browning.  Add risotto and let the grains toast for about 1 minute or so.  Then add some luke warm liquid.  Sometimes I keep chicken broth simmering so I can add it by the ladle full.  I only had a splash of chicken broth left so today I’m using mostly water.  Begin adding liquid to the grains and stir over low heat until all the water is absorbed.  Then add some more and stir until its all absorbed.  After about 30 minutes you should have a yummy, thick consistency.  Add in the parmesan cheese and peas.  Salt and pepper to taste.

In about 30 minutes and with only 6, alright 7 ingredients you can have something like this on the table.

What is your favorite last minute supper fix?  I’d love to know.