Chicken Piccata and Beetroot Risotto

This past few days, since my last visit to the market, an obsession with Beetroots struck as evidenced in my past blogs, I have been cooking over and over with them (these Chips and Frittata are a fine example of this newly developed obsession of mine). So today, bashing my head on the table, thinking what to cook today, the ingredient of choice was of course Beetroot, but I was also craving something tangy and rich, and then it hit me, Chicken Piccata, this originally Italian dish will deliver the perfect amount of tanginess to cut through the rich and starchiness of the risotto.

So, without any more bushtit, here is my Chicken Piccata and Beetroot Risotto.

This time around you will have to get your shit together, we will be working on two dishes at the same time, so, it is important to keep your focus and your timing, but don’t worry it is very hard to fuck it up.

Alright, let's do it, this is what you will need:

For the Risotto: 

• Leeks: Half a stalk would be enough, finely chopped.
• Garlic: One clove, finely chopped.
• Onion: Half of a small onion, finely chopped.
• Beetroot:  A couple of medium sized bulbs would do, dice them.
• Salt & Pepper
• Red Wine: Remember the rule, if you would drink a glass of it with gusto, it is good for cooking.
• Rice: Arborio rice is the best choice here, but you can pretty much go to your shop and get any packed rice that is labeled for risotto (they all work well).
• Broth: Buy it or make it, your choice.

The ingredients for the risotto. Look at that beautiful beets.

For the Chicken:

• Chicken Breast: Thin chicken breast fillets.
• Flour: Just a bit, for dusting.
• Lemon: One lemon would be enough, make sure to roll it under your palm firmly a couple of times to get as much juice as possible out of the sucker. Juice it into a glass for easier access.
• Garlic: One big clove, finely chopped.
• Leeks:  Just a bit, thinly sliced.
• Capers: A couple of tablespoons, drained.
• Vermouth: People here use white wine, but I like the rich taste of golden vermouth going with this recipe. Your choice.
• Butter: A small knob would suffice.

The ingredients for the chicken. Btw, why don't you have a nice glass of vermouth while cooking?

 Alright, let's get down to business, don’t be scared, you will be fine.

1. Take your beetroot, coat them with some olive oil and crack them into the oven at 180ºC. This you should do at least 20 minutes before starting to cook the rest of the things. You are looking to slightly roast the beets, once they start to slightly brown and are already tender but not mushy, they are good to go, take them off and save them aside, we'll come back to them in a bit.
2. Get your broth nice and hot and have a ladle or a big spoon handy.
3. Now, heat up some olive oil in a small pot. Once it is hot,  sauté your leeks, garlic and onion for a bit. Add the rice and sauté for a few minutes, you will notice the rice will start to change colors, here is where the risotto will start taking form.
4. It is time to start adding the liquids. Add around one cup of red wine and let the alcohol evaporate and the amount of liquid reduce. Lower to a medium heat.
5.  Take the ladle and start adding the broth to the rice. One at a time, you will add a ladle, then wait until the rice absorbs the broth, then you will add the next, repeating until the rice is done. The trick here is that while the rice is absorbing the liquid you will gently move the rice around thus preventing it from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Every time your rice starts looking a bit dryer, add another ladle and repeat the process. You will have some time in between ladles of broth, so we will use those to quickly do other things.
6. Take your chicken fillets, you can place them between plastic sheets and bash them with your rolling pin to get them as thin as possible, or you can ask your butcher to do it for you, your choice. Dust them with a bit of flour, try to get a very thin layer of flour on your chicken, don’t over do it otherwise you will get a nasty flour taste in your dish.
7. Check on your risotto, it might need some broth now.
8. Put some olive oil in a hot pan, slightly brown your chicken on both sides and set aside.
9. After the second or third ladle of broth into your risotto, add your roasted beets and continue the process.
10. Add a bit of extra olive oil to the pan where you browned your chicken, and sauté the garlic an leeks.
11. Deglaze your pan with the vermouth making sure you scrape all the delicious brown bits off the bottom of the pan, add the juice of the lemon and maybe some of it zest. Let it reduce for a while.
12. After 4-6 ladles of broth your risotto should be ready, take it off the heat.
13. Add the knob of butter to the sauce and stir until it melts, add the capers and keep stirring until the sauce gets glossy and pretty. Take back the chicken into the sauce, just to warm it up.
14. Plate
15. Enjoy.
16. Have a second serving, you deserve it.

Roasting the Beets.

Sauté the rice, leeks, garlic and onion.

A thin coat of flour on the chicken.

Browning the chicken.

Now with the beets.