Easy Bacon Risotto

5 from 2 votes

Bacon Risotto is a quick and easy comfort food perfect any night of the week. A family favorite that you will be asked to make over and over!

Prep Time10

Cook Time30

Total Time40

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: bacon and mushroom risotto, bacon risotto

Servings:

Calories: 917kcal

200 grams/7 oz short cut bacon rindless, roughly chopped into pieces
2 tablespoon olive oil
40 grams/3 tbs butter unsalted
1 tablespoon garlic chunky, minced
200 grams/7 oz button mushrooms some left whole, some chopped in halves and some fully sliced
1 leek roots and top trimmed, cut into thin slices
2 cups arborio rice
1 cup/250ml white wine Note 2
1 litre/4 cups chicken stock
½ cup parmesan cheese finely grated using a microplane zester

Cook bacon: place a large cast iron pan on the stove, turn the heat to high, add the chopped bacon and cook till bacon is a little browned with crispy edges. Once cooked use a slotted spoon to transfer bacon to a paper towel lined bowl.
Chicken stock: place a medium sauce pan on a separate element on the stove, pour in the stock and let it come to the boil.
Oil and butter: add the olive oil, butter, garlic, mushrooms, leek, salt and pepper to the pan. Cook this combination, stirring as you go for 2 - 3 minutes.
Rice and wine: pour in the arborio rice and use the wooden spoon to mix and coat it in the oil leek mixture. Then pour the white wine over the top.
Boiling chicken stock: take a ladle and scoop out some of the boiling chicken stock and add this to the rice mixture. Stir until it is absorbed and then continue to add the stock spoonful at a time until it is fully absorbed by the rice.
Bacon: once the liquids have been fully absorbed into the rice add the cooked bacon back to the pan and gently stir to combine.
Parmesan cheese: next add the parmesan cheese to the top of the risotto and stir to gently fold this in.
Garnish: once the cheese has been mixed in, grab the trio of black pepper, parmesan cheese and chopped parsley. Use these to liberally garnish the dish for serving. Grab some forks, spoons and bowls and pop the risotto in the centre of the table as your master piece.

Note 1 - Bacon: short cut rindless bacon is what you are after. I find streaky bacon too thin for a recipe like this unless you want to crisp some up and crumble it over the risotto to finish the dish. We want to cut this bacon into rough pieces.
Note 2 - White wine: I use a 'cheap' $8 bottle of pinto gris. It is great as it is not too sweet and works really well in the recipe. When I say bottle, we only use 1 cup of this, but the whole bottle costs $8.