As in, OATS. Oats oats. In risotto. Do you need to lie down?
*This post is definitely in partnership with The Quaker Oats Company. But all total honesty and opinions are always my own, duders.*
Listen to this insanity – this here recipe creation was my first ever time ever ever ever in the history of ever to ever eat steel cut oats. Ever! Of course I’ve had rolled oats a time or two times five thousand. But steel cut? Nope. First time. I’m officially into the words steel and cut back to back.
And in risotto? Just stop.
I knew I wanted something crazy savory to go with the steely cutties. (That’s what I call them now. Steely cutties. You can erase me from your life.) Something with wine, mushrooms, flavored sausages, little bit of kale, my entire upper torso.
So, that’s exactly what I did. I made a risotto with Quaker® Quick 3-minute Steel Cut Oats, wine, mushrooms, flavored sausages, a little bit of kale, and my entire upper torso.
And I’m telling you, the steel cut oats – n e v e r a g a i n w i l l I b e t h e s a m e .
You think, “Oh, these are going to get mushy.”
They don’t!
You think, “Oh, these are going to be too crunchy.”
They aren’t!
I went with a sun-dried tomato chicken sausage, just seared on both sides. Easy pleazy.
Then I sliced some baby bellas and browned them in the pan with a pinch of Italian seasoning. Pleasy mreasy.
Once the sausages and ‘shroomies are done, you’ll set them to the side and start on the actual risotto part. (Pour a glass of wine while you do this. It just makes sense in life.)
Little bit of diced red onion, a cup of the Quick 3-Minute Steel Cut Oats – toasty toasty – then the wine, burn it off, burn it off – then a bunch of chicken stock ladling! Ladling. Ladle-ing. Yodeling? Chicken stock yodeling? I like it.
After about 20 minutes, the oats will be PERFECT. Like, gorgeous and toothy, but not mushy and definitely not crunchy. Your tongue won’t believe its face.
Then you’ll swirl in the reserved chicken sausages, mushrooms, kale, a couple tablespoons of butter (there it is), a bit of Parmesan cheese (you can’t not), a few halved cherry tomatoes, and your blistered soul.
And this ^^^ is what you’ll get. And you will weep for five months, I’m positive of it.
This is the thing: Quaker® Quick 3-Minute Steel Cut Oats actually cut down on the traditional cook time of regular steel cut oats, but they still give that same good hearty texture and boomtastic nutty flavor. So obviously this dish has much more of a nutty vibe going on, than your old school risotto. Which is straight ridiculous with the mushrooms and sausages. So good. SOOOO GOOD.
It’s like, deep. Depthy! Way depthy. I like depthy.
You like depthy, too, right? I knew we were friends for a reason.
For the love, get your face in that.
Ingredients
- 1 (12 oz) package sun-dried chicken sausages, cut into 1/2" slices
- 1 (8 oz) package baby bella mushrooms, lightly rinsed and sliced
- 1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
- 1/2 cup chopped red onion
- 1 cup Quaker Quick 3-Minute Steel Cut Oats
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 3-4 cup chicken stock
- 2-3 cups chopped kale
- 2 Tbs. butter
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup halved cherry tomatoes
- 1 Tbs. lemon juice
- salt and pepper
- parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- Heat a Tbs. of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the sliced chicken sausages and sear until browned on both sides, about 5 minutes total. Remove from the pan the set them aside.
- Back in the pan, add the sliced mushrooms, the Italian seasoning, and a small pinch of salt. Sauté until the mushrooms have softened and darkened, maybe four minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside with the sausages.
- Back in the pan, add another tsp or so of oil. Add the diced red onion and sauté for a couple of minutes, until the onions have taken on some of the good browned bits in the bottom of the pan. This is flavor. This is life. Now add the oats and stir to combine and "toast." Add the wine and let it burn off for about 30 seconds. Then in 1/2-cup amounts, ladle the chicken stock into the pan, until the oats have absorbed the liquid. Keep ladling and stirring until the oats have absorbed enough liquid to soften and become toothsome. This will take you about 20 minutes, if that.
- Now, add the chicken sausages and mushrooms back to the skillet. Add the chopped kale, and stir until it's wilted, and everything is combined and glorious. Shut the heat off, and stir in the 2 Tbs. butter, and the parmesan cheese. Taste it at this point. You'll probably need a bit of salt. Season with salt and pepper, the lemon juice and taste it again. Add the cherry tomatoes. Ugh, this is too good, I can't deal.
- There you have it! Garnish with parsley, and inhale it.
- Serves four.
I mentioned the oats, right?
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