Chicken Cordon Bleu Risotto

Chicken Cordon Bleu Risotto

This easy Chicken Cordon Bleu Risotto recipe is a one skillet meal that’s the perfect way to use up a little leftover ham after a holiday meal.  This is that dish you throw together when you’ve had guests spend the night and you want to use the leftover ham you had at dinner the night before.  With about a ½ lb of leftover diced ham and a small amount chicken you can easily feed 4 to 6 people.  And, the short grained starchy rice that’s used to make risotto gives you that creamy delicious final result without having to add a bunch of fat and heavy cream so this risotto won’t totally wreck your healthy eating plan either.  This meal has the feel of luxury instead of leftovers.   

Chicken Cordon Bleu Risotto

Prep time: 10 min

Cook time: 25 min

Ingredients 

• 8 oz ham, diced
• 8 oz cooked chicken breast, diced
• 1 ½ cups Arborio rice or other short grain risotto rice
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp butter, divided
• ½ cup white wine
• 5-6 cups heated chicken broth or stock
• 3 oz gruyere cheese, grated
• FOR THE OPTIONAL BREADCRUMB TOPPING:
• 1 cup gluten free fresh bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp grated locatelli cheese
• ¼ tsp paprika
• ½ tsp thyme
• 1tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley
• salt, pepper to taste
• cayenne pepper, optional

VideoTutorial

Instructions

1. To make the bread crumb topping, preheat the oven to 300°F (or 150°C) and stir together the breadcrumbs, locatelli, paprika, thyme, olive oil, salt, pepper and optionally the cayenne pepper then bake the crumbs for 10 minutes on baking sheet sprayed with nonstick spray.  When the topping is crunchy and golden, transfer the mixture to a bowl, stir in the chopped parsley then set aside. 
2. For the risotto, add the onion, olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter to a large shallow skillet and sauté for 2-3 minutes or until the onions just start to get translucent.  Add the rice to the pan and continue to sauté for another 3-4 minutes stirring frequently until the rice is toasted and coated in the oil then add the wine to the pan and allow it to simmer for a minute or so until the liquid is completely absorbed. 
3. Add about 1 ½ cups of the broth to the pan and allow the rice to gently simmer as you stir periodically for 5 minutes or so or until most of the liquid is absorbed.  Add the ham and another 1 ½ cups of broth and stir to combine.  Allow it to simmer stirring occasionally until the liquid is almost absorbed before adding more stock.
4. About 5 minutes after adding the ham, add the chicken and continue the process of adding a ladle of stock then simmering until it’s almost absorbed before adding more stock.  In total the risotto should be simmering for roughly 20 minutes or until the rice is tender then turn off the heat and optionally you can stir in 1 tablespoon of grated locatelli and 1 tbsp of butter right before serving. 
5. To plate the dish sprinkle each portion with the gruyere cheese then top it off with the crunchy seasoned bread crumbs.