Chicken Piccata and Lemon Risotto Recipe

Servings: 6

This is one of my mom’s favorites, Lemon Risotto — rice with a lot of lemon zest in it — and chicken piccata, everyone knows chicken piccata!

Recipe featured on Rachael Ray in Tuscany.

Ingredients

2 cups arborio rice
4 ½ cups chicken stock, divided
2 cups water
3 lemons
½ cup EVOO, divided
4 shallots, finely chopped
8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 cups white wine, divided
1 ½ cups grated Parmigiano Reggiano
10 tablespoons butter, divided
A fat handful of parsley, finely chopped
2 pounds boneless chicken breast, butterflied into thin cutlets
Salt and pepper
Flour for dredging
4 Tablespoons capers, drained

Directions

Place rice in a sieve over a medium pot that has a lid. Pour 4 cups of stock and the water over rice and stir with a wooden paddle. Add in a couple pieces of lemon rind. Take the starchy liquid and heat to a low boil then cover to keep warm and turn off heat.

Zest one lemon and halve it. Halve 1 more of the lemons and thinly slice the third

In a round bottomed pan or risotto pot, heat about ¼ cup EVOO over medium high heat, add half of the chopped shallots and 1/3 of the garlic, soften a couple minutes and then add rice. Let toast for a minute or two and then add 1 cup white wine and let it absorb. Add the lemon zest and 3-4 ladles of the warm starchy stock and water. Stir the rice vigorously and continue to add liquid and stir. From the time you begin to add liquids the risotto will cook for 18 minutes. The creamy factor relies on developing the starch so stirring with gusto matters. When the risotto is creamy at about 16 minutes, stir in grated cheese, 4 tablespoons of butter cut into pieces, parsley and the juice of a lemon. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with more parsley.

Meanwhile, while the risotto is cooking, season chicken cutlets with salt and pepper and heat a large nonstick skillet over medium to medium-high heat with 4 T olive oil and 2 T butter. Dredge the cutlets in flour and add as many as you can to the pan without crowding. Cook 3-4 minutes on each side and remove to a platter. Once all the chicken is done, add the sliced lemons to the pan and lightly brown, top the cutlets chicken with them. Add remaining shallots to pan and remaining garlic, stir for a minute, then add remaining 1 cup of wine and reduce by half, ½ cup stock, the juice of the zested lemon, and 4 more tablespoons of butter, add capers, parsley and swirl and slide chicken and lemons back to pan and serve.