Name: Chicken Risotto with Nettles
Yield: Serves eight
Cuisine: United Kingdom
Ingredients: 1 chicken stock cube; 50 g (1¾ oz) butter; 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) risotto rice; 2 bay leaves; 4 garlic cloves, peeled and lightly crushed; 1 teaspoon crushed black peppercorns; 1 lemon, zest cut into strips; 2 onions, 1 peeled and thinly sliced, the other peeled and finely chopped; 1 good free-range chicken, cleaned; 3 or 4 sprigs of thyme; 175 ml (6 fl oz) white wine or Prosecco; 200 g (7 oz) nettle leaves (a good bowlful); a squeeze of lemon juice; sea salt; 25 g (1 oz) finely grated Parmesan cheese, to serve

Preparation info

Serves
eight

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

A Long and Messy Business

By Rowley Leigh

Published 2018

About

This may seem an extravagant use of a chicken but I have always been partial to it boiled or steamed: the breast can be eaten first in some other preparation – with morels is best at this time of year – and the thighs and some of the stock used in the risotto.

Ingredients

1 good free-range chicken, cleaned
2 onions, 1 peeled and thinly sliced, the other peeled and finely chopped

Method

Place the cleaned chicken in a deep saucepan. Cover with cold water and bring to a simmer. Skim any scum off the top before adding the thinly sliced onion, the garlic, herbs, spices, lemon zest and stock cube. Bring back to a very gentle simmer and cook for 50 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover and leave the chicken in the stock for 20 minutes.

Melt half the butter in a heavy saucepan an