BACON AND PEA RISOTTO
May 10, 2015
I found this recipe on Epicurious ages ago and it quickly became a favorite of mine. The night you’re making it takes a lot of stirring, but the ingredients are cheap and easy to find, so I consider this a pretty simple recipe. And it looks fancier than it is! (The recipe on Epicurious is for one serving; I’ve multiplied it here so that you can batch cook and freeze it or eat it all week!)
To learn more about recipes on this site, see Cooking with Networthy.
Ingredients
10 - 15 cups of chicken broth (I use Better than Boullion paste)
8 slices of bacon
8 garlic cloves
2 ⅔ cup Arborio rice
2 cups (16 oz) frozen peas
1 cup parmesan cheese
½ cup of butter
Zest from an entire lemon
Juice from the lemon
Directions
Bring broth and water to a simmer in a large pot.
Cook bacon in a another large pot or saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring, until crisp. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a paper towel to drain.
Add garlic to bacon fat in pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until pale golden, about 1 minute.
Add rice, stirring to coat.
Add 1/4 cup hot broth mixture and simmer briskly, stirring constantly, until broth is absorbed.
Continue simmering and adding hot broth mixture, about 1/4 cup at a time, stirring frequently and letting each addition be absorbed before adding the next, until rice is just tender and creamy-looking but still al dente, 18 to 22 minutes. (Reserve leftover broth mixture.)
Add peas and cook, stirring occasionally, 2 minutes.
Stir in cheese, butter, zest and bacon. Add lemon juice to taste. Thin risotto with some of reserved broth mixture if desired and season with salt and pepper.