I once read that cooking risotto is one heck of a way to impress one’s date. This is from a funny but serious-toned relationship book of my brother’s, a bit like Barney Stinson’s The Bro Code. Since the author highly approves of this dish — and in fact chose this among a myriad of other classy dishes available — I’d placed risotto in my must-learn, must-try dishes.
Honestly speaking, the stirring involved in cooking risotto can be a bit tiring, but if you’ve got a wonderful recipe it’s totally worth it. The bacon risotto recipe I’ve posted below is relatively simple compared to other recipes I’ve scoured on the net and it’s also straightforward (creamy risotto and crispy bacon, yum!).
Oh, and just one more thing before you move on to the recipe below. The secret to a delicious risotto is good homemade broth! Keep it simmering until you have to add it to the rice.
Bacon Risotto
Ingredients:
- 225 g bacon, diced
- 1185 ml chicken stock
- 0.5 onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 340 g Arborio rice
- 30 g butter
- Grated parmesan cheese
- Salt and pepper
- In a saucepan, bring chicken stock to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer.
- In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, brown the bacon over medium heat, around 10 minutes. Set aside the diced bacon.
- Saute onion and garlic in the bacon fat until the onion turns golden brown at the edges, about 2 minutes. Stir in rice.
- Reduce heat to medium. Pour in one-third of the chicken stock, continuously stirring until rice has absorbed the liquid and turned creamy. Repeat twice for the remaining stock, stirring constantly, about 15-20 minutes. Rice should be tender yet slightly firm.
- Remove risotto from the heat. Stir in the butter, parmesan cheese, and bacon (add more as you please).
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Pour into a serving dish and wait 2-3 minutes before serving.
Other great additions include tomatoes, frozen peas, fresh basil, more bacon. Make sure that the bacon is nice crispy, as it adds texture to the dish. You can serve this dish as a first or main course.
If you haven’t tried making risotto before, this is an easy starter recipe. Also, make sure that you read how to make great risotto in 5 simple steps and a bit of background entry on risotto, including its essential components, some tips, and some lovely recipes as well.
Any other good risotto recipes to try?
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