Bacon and Leek Risotto

This is by far one of my favorite dishes to make!! It takes some love but it is totally worth it! It’s also so good the next day as risotto balls (arancini) or risotto cakes with a simple arugula salad! I will be turning this into some mozzarella stuffed arancini tomorrow and I’m almost more excited for that than the actual risotto! I was looking through my website to see what to make this week and realized I forgot to post this recipe on here! What a shame.. So here you go 🙂

Ingredients
– 1.5 cup of Arborio rice
– 32 oz chicken broth
– 1 cup white wine (I use Kim Crawford)
– 4 slices of bacon
– 1 onion finely chopped
– 3 leeks chopped
– 1 cup parmesan cheese
– 2 tbsp butter
– Salt
– Pepper

Directions
1. In a large heavy bottom skillet or a dutch oven cook bacon until crispy. Remove and drain on a paper towel.
2. In the same pot sauté onion and leek in bacon grease on medium heat. About 4 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, simmer chicken broth in a small sauce pan.
4. Once onion and leek are cooked add in rice and toast for about 2 minutes.
5. Turn heat up to med-high and stir in wine. Let cook for about 3-5 minutes until reduced, stirring constantly.
6. Next, lower heat to med-low. You will gradually stir in chicken stock 1 cup at a time. Stir continuously until most of the liquid is absorbed. Complete this process until all broth is gone and rice is fully cooked (usually about 25-30 minutes).
* If rice still isn’t cooked, add in more chicken broth or water until it is tender.
7. Turn off the heat. Add in bacon, parmesan and butter. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
8. Serve with a side of chicken and roasted asparagus!

Serves 4-6