Garlic and Lemon Chicken with Risoni

This recipe requires a sous vide machine but don't stress if you don't have one. I have seen my own father improvise with a meat thermometer, a few clothes pegs, some zip lock sandwich bags and a cooling rack. If you don't want to make a ghetto version of a sous vide machine, feel free to bake the chicken in parchment at 180 degrees for 20 minutes.

Ingredients

Risoni

• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 brown onion, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 zucchini, finely chopped
• 1 cup white wine
• 1L chicken stock
• 400g risoni

Sous Vide Chicken

• 4 chicken breasts
• 1 lemon
• 2 garlic cloves
• A handful of basil leaves

Sauce

• 100g salted butter
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tbs olive oil

Method

1. Set the sous vide machine to 60 degrees celsius in a large pot of water. Prepare four vacuum seal bags each with 1 tbs butter, 1/2 a garlic clove, 3 thin slices of lemon and a sprinkling of basil leaves. Vacuum seal each bag to remove all air before placing in the water to cook for four hours.
2. When the chicken has half an hour remaining, move onto the risoni. Heat the olive oil over a medium heat in a large pot before adding the onion and sautéing until golden. Add the garlic, lemon zest and zucchini, stirring for three minutes. Pour in the white wine and chicken stock, bring it to the boil. Add the risoni and mix well.
3. While the risoni is cooking, place the butter, olive oil, garlic and lemon zest in a small sauce pan. Stir well but make sure you keep an eye on it so the garlic doesn't burn but cooks through.
4. Once the risoni is aldente, take it off the heat. Remove the chicken from the bags and slice into thick pieces. Spoon the risoni evenly into bowls and top with the chicken breast. Drizzle over the sauce and season to taste.