Carcass Risotto

This is my own original recipe for making risotto out of the remains of a chicken, preferably a Crockpot Roasted Chicken, without the extra step of turning the carcass into broth (sort of).

Serves 2–4.

Ingredients

• 1 c. Arborio rice
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 2 T. olive oil
• 1 chicken carcass, preferably with accompanying meat, juice, vegetables, and/or stuffing
• 2 c. peas, frozen

Directions

1. Dice any actual leftover chicken meat and set aside. (Add any bones to the carcass collection.)
2. Put the carcass and accompanying non-diced leftovers into a medium stock pot. Cover with water and bring to a boil.
3. In your good risotto pan, fry the onions and garlic in the oil.
4. Fry the rice in the oil until (somewhat) transparent.
5. Add any diced chicken.
6. Begin the long night of the risotto: fish (with a ladle or Pyrex measuring cup) or strain (carefully with the lid) stock out of the stock pot and add it to the risotto pot a half cup or so at a time.
7. Wait for stock to be absorbed before adding the next scoop. Add water to the stock pot if it gets low.
8. Halfway through the long night of the risotto, drain off some stock into a third, small pot and cook the peas in it. Continue the long night of the risotto.
9. When the peas are done, use their stock for the long night of the risotto. Set the peas aside.
10. The long night of the risotto is over when the rice is no longer chalky in the center. Stir in the peas, warm through with a bit more stock if they’ve cooled, and serve.
11. Strain off and save remaining stock; discard the solids.

Variants

For simplicity, you can boil the peas in water and then add the water to the stock pot.