Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Risotto with Peas, Leeks, Tomatoes and Bacon

Risotto with Peas, Leeks, Tomatoes & BaconIn a previous post I made a prosciutto and chicken risotto and included a video for those who wanted to see a risotto being made. This week the ingredients around the house were leeks, fresh sugar snap peas, bacon and cherry tomatoes. I don't usually cook with peas and never used leeks before, but something about them two ingredients spoke to me at the market this week. I had my parents over for this meal and sadly there were no leftovers :(
I also made a quick homemade stock that takes any recipes to a new level. Check out the recipe here...

The Recipe: Risotto with Peas, Leeks, Tomatos and Bacon
1 cup aborio rice
1 tbsp butter
8 pieces of bacon roughly cut
3 Cups of Homemade Stock
2 leeks diced
1 tsp sea salt
pinch of pepper
1 cups of fresh peas
3 cloves of Garlic
10 cherry or grape tomatoes cut in quarters
1/4 parmesan

In a medium saucepan heat the chicken stock over med-low heat, start the stock about five minutes before you start the risotto pan.

To cook the risotto, heat a large pan over high heat. Once hot add the butter, bacon and leeks. After a couple of minutes add the garlic. Stir until the bacon is almost fully cooked or has rendered most of it fat, about 5 minutes total.Preparing the bacon and leeks. Add the rice, salt, pepper and continue to stir, ensuring that you coat the rice in butter and bacon fat. After about 2 minutes you can start to add chicken stock a few ladles at a time. Continue stirring frequently. As the liquid reduces and the rice starts to stick to the pan add more stock, a couple ladles at a time. After about 5 minutes add the fresh peas and continue cooking and stirring. After about 10 minutes and once the rice has significantly increased in size, taste a few pieces of rice for doneness. The rice should be soft through but still have structure. If you run out stock you can add little water until you reach the doneness you want. Once the rice has reach this point you can remove from heat and stir in the parmesan and tomatoes. Congratulations on another beautiful risotto!

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