Risotto - leek and bacon

 I've been desperate to try out a new recipe for weeks, so when I came across a bacon and leek risotto recipe in a stray cookbook ('Sorted - A Recipe for Student Survival'*) it felt like the right time to test my hand at the seemingly unconquerable risotto. After comparing the recipe to others online and in my cookbooks, I opted for this recipe, containing the following -

*Serves 4*

4 trimmed leeks - cut in half to wash out any dirt

1pk smoked back bacon (8 rashers - could use less)

Several mushrooms

350-400g risotto rice

1.4l chicken stock (made up with 2 chicken stock cubes) - would be 1.5l or so but the mushrooms give off plenty of liquid too

1 large glass white wine

1-2 crushed/chopped cloves garlic

Finely chopped rosemary & thyme

30g butter & a little oil

Plenty of ground black pepper - no salt is needed (bacon & stock really are salty enough)

Lemon wedges, to serve

Optional, chopped fresh herbs to serve

*

1. Wash/trim leeks (peeling off outer layer) before chopping roughly. Once leeks are prepped, heat your butter & a little oil (1tbsp) in a large nonstick pan before adding the leek and leaving to soften, stirring occasionally. At this point I added my washed & chopped rosemary/thyme so that they could infuse the butter mixture a little. Whilst the leek is cooking, wash & chop your mushrooms (I prefer larger pieces as they add more texture to the end product) before setting aside.

2. Heat your grill on its highest setting, place the bacon under the heat & leave until one side appears almost cooked, before turning the rashers over & leaving to grill until crispy. At this point turn off the heat & place on kitchen roll (which will soak up excess oozy fat I don't want).

3. At this point I'd add the mushrooms to your softened leeks, alongside your garlic. Once softened, add your rice and stir around to coat in the lovely leek/mushroom/butter mix, before adding the white wine and leaving to evaporate.

(Conveniently this picture seems to show the risotto at the stage between 3. and 4.)

4. Having let the wine evaporate a little - leaving a lovely winey aroma - make up your stock (2 chicken stock cubes to 1.4l boiling water) and add one ladle at a time, stirring pretty much constantly until each ladleful has entirely soaked into the rice. Continue to do this, ladle by ladle, for about 20-25mins until the stock is entirely used up, soaked in, and the rice is cooked (taste a bit and try). Do stir as much as poss - you really don't want burnt bits stuck to the bottom of the pan...

5. Finally, now the risotto mixture is cooked with your veg, chop your already-cooked bacon and add to the mix, stirring thoroughly to warm it up, before squeezing through some lemon juice, seasoning with salt & pepper and serving up in individual bowls. Yum.

Testing out another risotto recipe tonight, so another - hopefully equally nice - recipe is to follow soon. Cheers for reading.

Maddie

* 'Sorted - A Recipe for Student Survival', Ben Ebbrell, Co-incidence Ventures Ltd, 2nd revised edition: 2009.