My husband is a meat eater. He likes meat in all forms and, to him, a meal just isn’t a meal without some form of dead animal, fish, or bird added to it. Case in point; the Nummy Noodle Soup I put up on the blog a couple weeks back. He proceeded to eat all of the soup and it’s contents except for the tofu. Those were left stacked in a neat little pile off to the side as an expression of his love strong dislike for meatless dishes. Our three boys seem to be following suit behind him. When given a plate of food to eat, they all reach for the meat first above everything else.
I, on the other hand, enjoy a helping of meat once in awhile, but am equally content with digging into a delicious meatless dish if given the opportunity. I make an attempt to leave the meat out of meals every so often, much to the family’s chagrin, but most of the time I am loading up on the moving proteins in all shapes and forms. This dish is no exception. To show my true love and admiration for my husband I added not one, but two land animals to my risotto. And I have to say, it wasn’t half bad. For a meat dish that is.
Ingredients Needed:
1 Tbsp of Butter
2 cloves of Garlic, Minced
1 Onion, Chopped
1 Chicken Breast, Cut into Bite Sized Pieces
1 Cup of Cubed Cooked Ham
11/2 Cups Arborio Rice
3 Cups of Chicken or Veggie Broth
1 Cup of White Wine
1/8 tsp of Nutmeg
1/8 tsp of Pepper
1/4 tsp of Basil
1/4 Cup of Cream
1/4 Cup of Gorgonzola Cheese
1 10 Oz. Package Frozen Spinach
Salt to Taste
Heat up your butter in a large skillet over medium heat and add in your garlic, and onion.
Cook it up for a minute or two and then add in your chopped chicken breast.
Let the chicken cook up for a few minutes and then add in the cubed ham. Let it continue to cook until the juices on the chicken run clear.
Add in the rice and let it brown up for 3 to 4 minutes.
Mix together your broth and wine. Add the liquid, 1 cup at a time and allow it to cook down, stirring occasionally. Continue adding a cup at a time after each one finishes cooking down. Cover your pan for the last two cups of added liquid.
When all the liquid is cooked in, add in your nutmeg, pepper and basil.
Turn your heat down to low and add in your cream and cheese.
Finally, stir in your spinach.
Stir it all together and allow it a minute or two to heat back up.
And just like that, your meaty risotto is finished and ready for your resident protein eaters.
Meaty One Dish Risotto
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp of Butter
2 cloves of Garlic, Minced
1 Onion, Chopped
1 Chicken Breast, Cut into Bite Sized Pieces
1 Cup of Cubed Cooked Ham
11/2 Cups Arborio Rice
3 Cups of Chicken or Veggie Broth
1 Cup of White Wine
1/8 tsp of Nutmeg
1/8 tsp of Pepper
1/4 tsp of Basil
1/4 Cup of Cream
1/4 Cup of Gorgonzola Cheese
1 10 Oz. Package Frozen Spinach
Salt to Taste
Directions:
Heat up your butter in a large skillet over medium heat and add in your garlic, and onion. Cook it up for a minute or two and then add in your chopped chicken breast. Let the chicken cook up for a few minutes and then add in the cubed ham. Let it continue to cook until the juices on the chicken run clear.
Add in the rice and let it brown up for 3 to 4 minutes.
Mix together your broth and wine. Add the liquid, 1 cup at a time and allow it to cook down, stirring occasionally. Continue adding a cup at a time after each one finishes cooking down. Cover your pan for the last two cups of added liquid.
When all the liquid is cooked in, add in your nutmeg, pepper and basil. Turn your heat down to low and add in your cream and cheese. Finally, stir in your spinach.
Stir it all together and allow it a minute or two to heat back up.
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Julie,
this looks scrumptious! I don’t usually make time for something like this as a side dish which is what I think of with a risotto but I love the chicken and ham combo that makes this dinner! Thanks so much for following me ;o)
Christy
that looks like a bowl of creamilicious goodness – I’m with you, I prefer meat once in a while, but would rather indulge in veggie or carb loaded meals haha – my hubs on the other hand is with your hubs – meat meat and more meat – I’m flagging this for a try…great work on this!!
oh, yummy julie!! OFF TO VOTE FOR YOU, ANNE
This looks delicious! I was just thinking about risotto this morning!
I have food on my blog today. I even made the food. I was kind like you, but I only took a picture of the finish result. 🙂
Julie, this looks fantastic! What great texture (and flavors!)! Thanks for a great post!
I love risotto and I love that you added the meat to it. Now it can double as a main dish, great idea!
I have already saved this one as soon as I read it! This sounds incredible!!! Thanks so much!
Julie, you’re a good wife catering to your families requests. Perhaps your husband can take a turn at the stove? Is as good of cook as you are?
FYI, red vs gold beets. Gold has a milder taste than red. I find red more earthy. Reds also bleed more. So if you’re going to start some where start with golden and roasting them which really is the easiest and best way to bring out their natural goodness.
Risotto is such a comforting and versatile meal. You can make it according to each ones likings. This one looks awesome.
This looks SO good!
My husband does the same thing! He’ll stack the most random things to the side like broccoli or toast crusts. But meat and chicken? He’ll polish it off with no problem. It drives me NUTS.
How funny that all of them just piled the tofu up on the sides. Ah, one day they’ll all learn just how delicious tofu can be. But, regardless, I’m sure they loved your beautiful looking risotto and ate every bite. Thanks for visiting my blog.
Julie replied: — October 21st, 2010 @ 8:35 am
Lisa,
The kids actually loved the tofu! It was my husband that piled it in the corner of his bowl as a demonstration of his vegetarian issues. 😛
Interesting take on risotto. I’ve never seen a meat filled one. Looks great! My fave is a mushroom loaded one but I do believe I’ve professed my mushroom love to you. 🙂
~ingrid
Your risotto looks perfect Julie! I love how creamy it is.
Hi Julie,
I saved this recipe. I do love Risotto ;always a bit nervous to make it.
I also have 1 husband and 4 sons who dearly love their meat.
Never thought of adding it to risotto; looks fantastic.
Thanks for sharing.
Rita
Looks delicious!
Julie, this risotto looks awesome, indeed meaty and SO creamy, can have a whole bowl right now….nice pictures 🙂
Looks yummy! Curious, I wonder how nutmeg and basil together taste like. I will try this.
You are one mean woman in the kitchen! I love it!!
That looks so yummy! Thanks for sharing!
Feeding the carnivores can be an issue huh 😉 Love the presentation too.
I love your site! Looking so forward to being a regular reader. I love risotto, but have always used my same (somewhat boring) recipe… this sounds so great. Especially now that the cooler weather has set in.
Wow, you sound just like me, and our husbands sound just alike. Once I made a meatless meal… ONE meatless meal mind you… in between two meat dishes and he acted like we hadn’t had meat in weeks! (rolling eyes) For the most part he deals with the meat-free stuff as long as I throw meat in the menu SOMEWHERE. Your risotto looks fantastic, meat and all! Oh and to answer your question, that was the first recipe I tried out of my impulse booklet but I have more I plan on trying and of course will post them. So keep an eye out! There is quite a bit in there that actually looks pretty good!
I’m so into risotto right now, although I have not made it from scratch – it’s my new found luv. Wish I had a serving of this right now. My hubby would also enjoy that there’s two land animals included 😉
My perfect comfort food! This sounds like it would really hit the spot right now!
Thanks for the recipe! How much rice did you use?
Julie replied: — October 21st, 2010 @ 7:17 am
Great catch Polina! I updated to recipe to reflect the missing rice amount.
This looks so yummy. We can alI do with a bowl of this creamy goodness with the weather so cool now. I have three meat eaters here as well 🙂
I feel the same way about meat. Fortunately, I don’t even think my husband notices sometimes when there is no meat in something! I try to distract him with lots of other add-ins and yummy sauces. 🙂 But a good helping of meat now and then can’t be beat! This looks great.
I get the same thing from The Hubble. I even suggest a meatless meal and his first question is “where’s the meat?” When I ask him what he wants for breakfast, I often get the response “meat flavor.” LOL! Men. I’ll have to try this. It has 2 meats and no mushrooms! It should satisfy him.
Perfect for dinner on a cool night. Good job adding the protein, makes it more of a meal all in one pot.
Plan B
Mr. Fairway is a carnivore, too. I do believe, however, that I could coax him to enjoy a little bit of this unique dish!
Delicious. This looks so rich, creamy and tasty. Thank you for sharing this with me. And I’m sure your meat loving husband was very very pleased.
Hubby loves risotto..I have never tried to make it. The recipe sounds like a home run though! Yet another fabulous one from you!
i am drooling over this dish! it looks so good … thank you for sharing this. have a nice weekend.
i am with blackbook… my mouth is watering! this looks amazing and a perfect 1 dish meal!
what is the serving size?
I’m a guy. I like dead animal flesh too! Not sure how I got here, but I’m laughing. You are a funny gal! I could eat this Risotto. Yes I could.
Bye.