Like a well-executed pasta dish, a good risotto doesn’t need to contain a long ingredient list. Bacon, tomato and just the right amount of cheese are combined with the creaminess of slow-cooked arborio rice made using basic flavour builders. I really do consider pasta and risotto to be the ultimate comfort foods.
Serves 6
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 35 minutes
6 slices smoked bacon, diced
1 small onion, diced
1½ cups (315 g) arborio rice
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup (125 mL) dry white wine
4 cups (1 L) chicken stock
2 cups (500 mL) tinned crushed tomatoes
Grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese, to taste
Salt and black pepper
- Heat a large saucepan or pot over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring often, until crisp. Remove the bacon to a paper towel–lined tray and drain off all but 2 Tbsp (30 mL) of the bacon fat.
- Add the onions to the pot and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir for about 2 minutes, until the rice just begins to stick a little on the bottom of the pot. Stir in the garlic and then add the white wine. Reduce the heat to medium-low and stir the rice continuously until the wine has been absorbed, about 2 minutes.
- Add roughly a third of the stock and stir immediately upon adding. From there, you do not have to stir non-stop, but pass by the pot often to stir it. Once the stock has been absorbed, add the remaining stock in two more additions, stirring in the same fashion. This will take about 15 minutes.
- Add the crushed tomatoes and now stir continuously until the liquid has absorbed and the rice is tender but still has a toothiness to it, about 6 minutes. Add back the cooked bacon, stir in the cheese and season to taste. Serve immediately.
For a vegetarian version of this risotto, skip the bacon (of course), use 2 Tbsp (30 mL) olive oil to cook the onions and rice, use vegetable stock instead of chicken and use smoked Cheddar in place of the Parmesan/Asiago.
