A friend of mine, Lauren Cone, is a wonderful cook! She was giving me some tips on things to try and told me that I must make risotto. This is not something I had ever done and I was weary that we wouldn't like it. Like so many things, I immediately wondered how I had lived without this for so many years. So many risottos have mushrooms on them and I don't like mushrooms, so I guess I've always been turned off. This was a great dish and a good hearty winter dish. I would have eaten it alone, but I knew Michael wouldn't want it as his whole meal (at least not the first time he tried it), so I roasted a chicken to go with it. For the risotto, you'll need:
1 butternut squash (2 pounds)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
2 ounces pancetta, diced
1/2 cup minced shallots (2 large)
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (I didn't use this much)
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Peel the butternut squash, remove the seeds, and cut it into 3/4-inch cubes. You should have about 6 cups. Place the squash on a sheet pan and toss it with the olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, tossing once, until very tender. Set aside.
Meanwhile, heat the chicken stock in a small covered saucepan. Leave it on low heat to simmer.
In a heavy-bottomed pot, melt the butter and saute the pancetta and shallots on medium-low heat for 10 minutes, until the shallots are translucent but not browned. Add the rice and stir to coat the grains with butter. Add the wine and cook for 2 minutes. Add 2 full ladles of stock to the rice plus 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Stir, and simmer until the stock is absorbed, 5 to 10 minutes. Continue to add the stock, 2 ladles at a time, stirring every few minutes. Each time, cook until the mixture seems a little dry, then add more stock. Continue until the rice is cooked through, but still al dente, about 30 minutes total. Off the heat, add the roasted squash cubes. Mix well and serve with grated parmesan cheese on top. I actually forgot all about the cheese when we had it leftover and it didn't matter, so you can do it with or without.
For the chicken, you will need:
1 whole chicken (3.5 to 4 lbs), all the yucky parts from the middle removed
1/2 cup salt (for brining)
1/2 cup sugar (for brining)
1 lemon, quartered
6 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 Tbsp dried Tarragon
salt and pepper
1 cup low sodium chicken broth
First, brine the chicken by dissolving salt and sugar in 2 quarts cold water in a large stock pot. Submerge the chicken completely in the brine. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Remove from brine and pat dry with paper towels.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat to 375 degrees. Trim the chicken of any excess fat. Using your fingers, release the skin on either side of the breast, being careful to not tear it, so that you form two pockets.
Mix 2 Tbsp of the butter, the tarragon, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper together. Spread the butter under the skin into the pockets that you just created and over the outside of the bird. Season with salt and pepper. Insert lemon quarters and garlic inside the cavity of the chicken.
Spray a v rack with Pam and set inside a roasting pan. Lay the chicken in the rack, breast side up. Melt 1 Tbsp butter and brush over the chicken. Pour 1 cup chicken broth into the roasting pan. Roast the chicken for 40 minutes. Increase the oven temp to 450 degrees and rotate the position of the pan in the oven. Continue to roast the chicken until the thickest portion of the breast registers 170 degrees, about 30 more minutes.
Tip the chicken so that the juice from the cavity runs into the roasting pan. Transfer chicken from pan and let side 20 minutes, uncovered. Remove lemon quarters and garlic. Carve and enjoy.
We ate this chicken for two meals and then I used the rest of it to make chicken noodle soup.
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