Best of British Bloggers: Oven Baked Chicken Thigh Risotto with Dom and Belleau Kitchen

Best of British Bloggers: Oven Baked Chicken Thigh Risotto with Dom and Belleau Kitchen

Best of British Bloggers:

Oven Baked Chicken Thigh Risotto with

Dom and Belleau Kitchen

Today’s recipe is just perfect for the silly season that is starting in earnest now; it’s an easy to throw together dish packed full of flavour and the most amazing crispy skinned chicken thighs that sit on top of wine-infused risotto that is studded with delectable vegetables, it’s a real Christmas star of a recipe and it was devoured in my house last week – it’s Oven-Baked Chicken Thigh Risotto courtesy of Dom, he of “thigh fame” who resides over at Belleau Kitchen! And today, it is ME who is bringing this comforting dish to your table via a great idea from Best British Bloggers and Instant Print. The idea was that ten Best British Bloggers, of which I am proud to be counted as one, submit a recipe that is then printed on some nifty recipe cards by Instant Print – these recipes are all presented in a lovely enamel recipe box and sent to each recipe contributor; we then make one of more of the recipes in the box, from other bloggers, and share that recipe on our blogs! Eh voila, here is my recipe of choice, Dom’s Baked Thighs, ahem, I mean, Dom’s Baked Chicken Thigh Risotto!

Best of British Bloggers: Oven Baked Chicken Thigh Risotto with Dom and Belleau Kitchen

I had nine lovely recipes to choose from, and here’s the list of the other British Bloggers that were involved in this rather nice “Recipe Swap” idea:

My own recipe was for Maple, Almond & Pecan Granola with Blueberries

Lavender and Lovage

Rachel Phipps: Smoked Salmon Latkes with Lemon & Caper Soured Cream

Smarter Fitter: Creamy Pear & Avocado Smoothie

Jo’s Kitchen: Chicken & Spinach Curry

Oh So Amelia: Prawn & Potato Stir-Fry

She Cooks She eats: Chorizo Mac ‘n’ Cheese

Daisy Butter: Gourmet Chicken Satay

Cherished by Me: The Gooiest Brownies Ever (probably)

Sunny Sweet Pea: Caramel Nibbles Cookies

Best of British Bloggers: Oven Baked Chicken Thigh Risotto with Dom and Belleau Kitchen

But back to Dom’s thighs……..I chose this recipe as I have had my eye on it for a while now and I wanted to try out something that I could cook for a crowd over the festive period that would be tasty, filling and hassle free, which seemed to be all the hallmarks of this recipe. As is my want, I DID tweak the recipe VERY slightly to fulfil my requirements, and I hope Dom will approve. I added some cooked pumpkin, as I had some in the fridge, as well as the carrots, mushrooms and other veggies, and as I only wanted this to feed four people this time, I cut back on the quantities. I also added some spicy Italian seasoning to my chicken thighs before baking and other than that, it was all pretty much as Dom had suggested in his recipe.

Best of British Bloggers: Oven Baked Chicken Thigh Risotto with Dom and Belleau Kitchen

Dom says in his recipe, that it will feed….”7 greedy middle-class jews with one portion left-over for the next day…which, if you know 7 greedy middle-class jews, you’ll know is no mean feat“……well, there were no Jews present, and I am not sure if we all counted as middle class, but, it did feed four VERY greedy people and the plates were licked clean! The chicken thighs had lovely crispy skin and were succulent and moist inside – the rice was creamy and silky, whilst the vegetables were perfectly cooked and had taken all of the amazing chickeny, winey and Herby flavours – it was a delightful dish and one that I will be replicating over Christmas.

Best of British Bloggers: Oven Baked Chicken Thigh Risotto with Dom and Belleau Kitchen

Time to share the recipe now, with my amendments, and don’t forget that if you make this recipe at all, please do credit Dom with it! Of all the blogging challenges that PR companies have come up with, this was one of the nicest, and if you fancy some recipe cards yourself, you can nip over to Instant Print and order some……I LOVE mine, as they sent me a dozen or so blank Lavender and Lovage cards to use. That’s it for today, I have a busy week ahead of me, but I will be back with some new recipes and a couple of new giveaways too! See you soon, Karen 

Oven-Baked Chicken Risotto

(Belleau Kitchen)

8 chicken thighs

1 teaspoon spicy Italian seasoning

1 large onion – roughly chopped

2 large carrots – roughly chopped

large cup of cooked pumpkin

1 small punnet of closed cup mushrooms (works out to roughly 3 per person) – roughly chopped

a large handful of frozen peas

2 glasses of white wine or a splash of sherry

500g risotto rice – arborio rice is good

4 pints vegetable stock

– place the chopped veg (and pumpkin) into an oven roasting dish and lay the chicken pieces on top – then sprinkle over the Italian seasoning.  Don’t over-crowd the pan, it’s better to use two dishes. season with salt and pepper and a generous glug or two of olive oil.

– roast in a hot oven (190C) for 40 minutes but turn the chicken halfway through at which point add the wine or a splash of sherry – after 40 minutes check that the veg has started to roast and the chicken is browning, it may need another 5 to 10 minutes or so and should be full of lovely chickeny juice.

– add the rice, shimmying the chicken aside to make sure all the grains are coated in juice, then add enough of the stock to cover the rice but not all the chicken.  You want to retain some stock for later.

– place the dish back into the oven and roast again for another 30 – 40 minutes or until the rice is tender and the chicken is golden… keep your eye on it as you don’t want it to dry out, so keep it topped up during the last 15 minutes or so.

– take it out of the oven and throw in the frozen peas and give it a final stir before serving. eat and of course, enjoy!

Best of British Bloggers: Oven Baked Chicken Thigh Risotto with Dom and Belleau Kitchen

Disclaimer: I was asked to participate in this Best British Bloggers Recipe Swap with Instant Print and I was not paid to do so, but I did receive some personalised recipe cards and a recipe box as part of the challenge. 

Lavender and Lovage

Best of British Bloggers: Oven Baked Chicken Thigh Risotto with Dom and Belleau Kitchen