New Recipe: Christine's Bacon-Cheddar Risotto

I was browsing through a magazine and a Bacon Risotto recipe caught my eye. I didn’t look at the recipe and now I can’t remember where I saw it. Since I make a mean Asparagus/Chicken Risotto, I figured I’d take a stab at a Bacon version.
(Note: I never measure anything when I cook so adding a little bit more or a little bit less of an ingredient will not destroy this recipe)


The Good Stuff:
1 medium Vidalia onion (chopped) – you can use a standard yellow onion
1 package of Bacon (12-16 oz package)
2 Tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 cup Arborio Rice
1 box (32oz) of Chicken Broth (reduced sodium, 98% FatFree is what I use)
¼ cup sharp cheddar cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste.

Make it Happen:

Step 1) Chop the onion

Step 2) Chop the Bacon into small pieces (I discarded the fatty ends which looked like they had no meat on them)

Step 3) In a small 2 quart saucepan bring the whole container of Chicken broth to a boil, then lower the heat to low and leave on low for the duration of the recipe.

Step 4) Heat up a heavy bottomed pot. This can either enameled cast iron or whatever you use to make a big pot of soup. (stay away from stockpots).

Step 5) Toss in the bacon (IT WILL SPLATTER –wear a sleeved shirt or stay away)
Bacon will take about 5-7 minute to get nice and crispy.
Remove bacon to a paper towel lined plate for the bacon grease to be absorbed .

Step 6) Carefully pour the bacon grease into a safe container (I use cleaned paper milk cartons- since you can cut them down to have a big opening for pouring). You are going to discard the grease once it’s cool – Don’t put it down the drain.. ugh

Step 7) It’s a GOOD thing if there little bits of heaven and a light oil slick on the bottom of your pot, add the 2 tbsp of oil to the pot and heat to medium heat, add the chopped onions.

Step 8) Saute the onions until they turn translucent (about 5 minutes).

Step 9) Add the cup of Arborio Rice and sauté into the onions for 1.5 minutes

Step 10) Add a ladle (about ¾ cup) of chicken broth to the rice/onion mixture and stir.

Step 11) Once the liquid is absorbed add another ladle (¾ cup) of chicken broth – Continue this process until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed (you will probably have about 1 ladle leftover of broth in the pot that you can toss away) **It’s very important to do taste tests, Risotto should be firm, but not too hard and certainly not mushy**

Step 12) Remove the pot from the heat and add the Cheddar Cheese and the bacon and mix well. This is your final taste test, depending on the cheese/chicken stock and bacon it could be salty enough. Since I used low sodium bacon and chicken stock I typically can add about 1 tsp of salt to the pot and stir.

Enjoy!