This easy rice and chicken dish is cooked like a southern American jambalaya, but the flavours are distinctly Italian with nutty artichoke, lemony ricotta and toasted pine nuts.
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Ingredients
- 350g brown rice
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 500g skinless chicken thigh fillets, roughly chopped
- 1 leek, washed and sliced
- 6 large garlic cloves, minced (or 2 tbsp garlic paste)
- 5 thyme sprigs
- 400g tin artichoke hearts in water
- 125ml dry white wine
- 700ml chicken stock, warm
- 260g baby leaf spinach
- 4 tbsp ricotta
- 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp pine nuts, toasted in a dry frying pan until fragrant
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Method
- Rinse the brown rice under cold running water, then leave to soak in cold water. Put a large, heavy-based casserole over a high heat with half the oil, then add the chopped chicken and season with salt and pepper. Brown all over, stirring regularly, then turn the heat down to medium and add the remaining oil and the leek, garlic and thyme. Fry for 6-8 minutes until the leek has softened.
- Drain the artichokes, reserving the liquid. Cut into quarters, then add to the pan with the wine and let the wine reduce by about a third. Turn the heat down to low, then add the artichoke liquid, drained rice and chicken stock. Stir in the spinach, cover with a lid and cook for 30-35 minutes.
- In the meantime, put the ricotta in a bowl and finely grate over the lemon zest (cut the zested lemon into wedges and set aside). Season with salt and pepper, then beat with a whisk until light and creamy. Once the rice is cooked through,dollop the ricotta in blobs over the dish and sprinkle with the pine nuts. Serve with the lemon wedges for squeezing over.
Nutrition
- 570kcals Calories
- 23g (6.4g saturated) Fat
- 38g Protein
- 46g (2.9g sugars) Carbs
- 5.5g Fibre
- 1.7g Salt
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Reviews
Nice recipe. The first step says use half the oil, but then the rest is not used seemingly. My guess is that it is either meant to be added when the leek, garlic and thyme are, or that it is whipped into the ricotta. Or maybe it is not needed?
Thank you for flagging this omission – you’re right that the remaining oil should be added with the leek, garlic and thyme in step 1 and the recipe has now been updated.
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