This is not paleo but it’s primal and it is absolutely delicious. Risotto does not have to be terrible for you. When you use high quality ingredients including grassfed cheddar and organic spinach, it’s still full of nutrition although it’s definitely an indulgent meal. I would not recommend for those trying to lose weight as it’s very carb heavy with all of the rice! It’s OUTSTANDING and full of flavor and it makes quite a few servings and it’s not terribly expensive to make so I recommend you try this ASAP. Perfect meal to make and have friends over for a night of wining and dining! Get an extra bottle of Chardonnay to enjoy with this one.
Brian (my BF) made this meal (a variation of it) for me when we first started dating a few years ago. It was the night I knew he was SO special and that he was definitely a keeper. I mean come on…a man that can cook, and he bought me wine, and gave me the leftover bacon….I had never had risotto before and after having his version I was just blown away! This isn’t easy to make as you have to be cautious when adding the liquid to the rice – you don’t want to add it too fast or the rice won’t cook properly. That is the trick – slowly cooking the rice.
There are many variations you can do with this meal too! Brian has done shrim0 and bacon, sausage and chicken, bacon and sausage, bacon and chicken, many different varieties. We always include lots of spinach though. Below is an image of a few of his versions! The top left was the first one he ever cooked for me 🙂
Any who, let’s get to it!
Ingredients:
- 1 lb chorizo, cut into slices (purchase high quality fresh chorizo from local butcher or Whole Foods-type place)
- 1 lb chicken breast, cut into cubes (try to avoid factory farmed chicken!)
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 large handfuls fresh organic spinach
- 1 cup dry white wine (I prefer an oaked Chardonnay)
- 1 container (32 ounces) organic bone broth or chicken stock
- 3 cups arborio rice (must be arborio!)
- 1 block grassfed cheddar or grassfed goat cheddar
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- Pepper, to taste
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tbsp paprika
- Dash oregano
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- Grassfed butter and coconut oil for cooking
Directions:
First things first, prep your ingredients. Pour the contents of the of chicken stock or bone broth in a medium sized pot on the stove and warm it over medium heat. Prep your rice – put it in a bowl and keep near you. Dice the onion and mince the garlic and get your spinach ready as well. Shred the cheese and set it aside.
Now, take a large pot and heat some grassfed butter or coconut oil over medium high heat. Cook your meat thoroughly and then set it aside in a bowl. Keep the leftover oil in the pot (from the sausage) and cook the risotto in it!
Next, adding a little more grassfed butter or coconut oil to the pot (medium high heat), saute your onions and garlic for about 5 minutes until onions are translucent. Now we being cooking the rice! Add all of your rice to the pot and slowly add 1 cup of bone broth at a time (give or take) and stir everything as you do this. You want to slowly cook the rice so it soaks up all the flavors. Reduce the heat to medium and continue to add the bone broth to the pot, 1 cup at a time (using a ladle), until all has been used. This part is important and you don’t want to rush it – so take your time adding the stock and let the rice slowly cook. It should take about 15 minutes total to do this.
Lastly, pour in the white wine and all of the spices and an extra cup of water if the mixture appears a little dry.
Now add the meat, spinach, and cheese and stir everything well.
Enjoy!!!!!! This should make about 8-10 servings.
Below are some pictures so you can see how it looks as well as the type of bone broth I purchased. You could make your own, but, that takes a while so it’s easy just to buy it when you’re including it in a recipe such as this!
Kelly Hayman Fitness 