Bacon and Tomato Risotto by Canadian Chef Anna Olsen

Risotto requires a lot of stirring. Although Anna Olsen seems less rigid about stirring in this recipe than other risotto recipe authors I've seen. I have often wondered about risotto prepared in restaurants and who is left stirring the pot there.

My guinea pig luncheon guests seemed to like this risotto. It is very red.The reason it looks slightly congealed in the photo below is because I forgot to take a photo at the time I served it up. This is a photo of the leftovers, post-refrigeration. It's congealed alright.

Ingredients:

• 6 slices of smoked bacon, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1.5 cups of arborio rice
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup of dry white wine
• 4 cups of chicken stock
• 2 cups of tinned crushed tomatoes
• grated parmesan cheese to taste
• salt and pepper to taste

Methods: 

Cook the bacon until crisp in a large saucepan/skillet. Remove the bacon and leave 2 Tbsp. of bacon fat in the pan. Add the onions and cook for about 5 minutes until softened. Add the rice and stir for about 2 minutes until stirring in the garlic and white wine.  Stir continuously for about 2 minutes until the wine has been absorbed. Stir in about 1/3 of the stock, then stir occassionally until the stock has been absorbed. Then add the remaining stock in 2 further additions, stirring occasionally until absorbed. Add the crushed tomatoes ansd stir continuously until the liquid has been absorbed. Add the bacon and cheese, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

This photo shows my 'mise en place' for the risotto. 'Mise en place' is a French culinary term meaning 'putting in place'. It simply means that I had things measured and chopped and ready to go before my guests arrived for the lunch. I could then make the risotto fairly easily while we were all in the kitchen chatting with a glass of wine in hand.