Chicken and Corn Risotto

I love making risotto. It's become one of my go-to meals. I  first learned about it in college, when Sarah taught me how to make it a couple times. Then, on a vacation in New Hampshire I had this really awesome mushroom risotto, but when I told my mom about it she had no idea what I was talking about. What kind of Italian doesn't know about risotto (ignore the fact that I had only recently learned about it as well)? So I planned on making some. We had butternut squash growing in our garden, so I made a butternut squash risotto. It was fantastic! (Recipe will be up when it grows again this summer!) Realizing it was my mom's new favorite, I made it again on different occasions, such as her birthday or a random Tuesday. Sometimes it's mushroom and beef, sometimes it's chicken and corn. Today was the random Tuesday chicken and corn version. It was pretty spectacular.

Usually I make it with those boxes of tasty broth, but we didn't have any and it's gross out so we didn't feel like going to the store. So it turns out that risotto works well with bouillon cubes! Lucky us! Plus we had leftover corn on the cob since I bought some yesterday to make a black bean, corn and mango salsa (which will also be posted eventually) as well as some parsley for that same recipe.

And don't forget, making risotto is always a good excuse to open a new bottle of wine! Both for the recipe, and for you to enjoy while endlessly stirring the rice. Comfort food and wine on a rainy day, it doesn't get much better than that!

FYI: Arborio is the best kind of rice to use for risotto, in fact the bags or containers usually say "risotto' on them. But if you don't  feel like buying fantastic risotto rice, you can always use medium grain instead, it just won't be as glamorous.

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Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine, warmed
4 tbsp butter
2 onions, diced
1 1/2 cups frozen or fresh corn
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups Arborio (or medium grain) rice
Salt and pepper
1 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped


Boil chicken in salted water until cooked through. Remove from water and set aside to cool. Chop into small pieces.


Heat broth to a simmer. In a large, deep frying pan melt 2 tbsp of butter and saute the onions and corn until soft. Add the garlic and saute a little more. Add the rice, salt and pepper, and stir until rice is coated with the butter. Stir in wine.

After wine is absorbed, add a ladle of broth at a time, stirring continuously and adding more as the broth is absorbed. Add broth until the rice is cooked. You may need more or less broth depending on your own tastes.

When fully cooked (20-30 minutes), remove from heat. Stir in 2 tbsp of butter, cheese, parsley and chicken. Serve while warm.