In need of a winter warmer that elevates a simple root vegetable and makes use of leftover roast chicken? Then you’re in the right place. With little effort, you can transform the gnarly celeriac into an elegant and hearty dinner dish. With the added bonus of also using up the remainders of your Sunday roast chicken.
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Cook Time35 minutesmins
Total Time45 minutesmins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: French, Italian, Mediterranean
Keyword: Celeriac, Chicken, One Pot, Risotto, Winter
Servings: 2
Calories: 925kcal
Equipment
1 medium hob-proof casserole dish
Ingredients
2tbspof olive oil
1/2celeriacpeeled and diced into 1cm cubes
1onionfinely chopped
1clovegarliccrushed
150grisotto ricearborio works well
600mlchicken stockideally freshly made from the roast chicken - see notes
250gleftover roast chickenor you can always cook some chicken breast that has been pre-cooked or roasted in the oven.
Using a medium casserole dish (lid not required) heat 1 tbsp of olive oil over a medium heat. Add the diced celeriac and brown, moving around the dish for around 10 minutes until coloured on all sides and it has just a little resistance when you stick a knife into the centre. Remove to a plate.
Using the same dish, heat the second tbsp of olive oil and add in the onion, garlic and risotto rice. Stir to gently cook the onion and garlic and to coat the rice in the oil until translucent around the edges. This should take no more than 4-5 minutes.
Add in around 50ml (1 ladle) of stock, gently stirring regularly until the liquid is more or less absorbed. Then add more stock until you only have 100ml remaining. This should take around 15 minutes.
Add to the dish the chicken, the zest and juice of the lemon, along with the spinach and half (50g) of the parmesan. Stir this into the rice and add the remaining 100ml stock and season with fresh ground pepper and a little salt (remember the stock will have some salt already and parmesan is a little salty).
After 5 minutes, the chicken should be thoroughly warmed through and the rice will have absorbed all the fluid. If it is getting too dry, add a small amount of boiling water.
Serve in wide bowls with a sprinkling of sage and the remaining parmesan on the side.
Notes
If you are only using half the celeriac, and not doubling up the recipe to 4 persons, then you can always cook the celeriac in the pan and freeze the remaining half. Thawed, this is a great addition to a winter salad, or if you wish to do the risotto another day.
I have used fresh homemade chicken stock, but shop bought stock is absolutely fine as well.