Bacon and Tomato Risotto by Canadian Chef Anna Olson

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.

Sausage, spinach and parsley risotto

Sam Sifton of the New York Times  proposed this risotto as a good workday meal in the Cooking section of his esteemed paper. He suggested kale for the greenstuff, which I have revised to spinach. So, this was tasty. Not as tasty as my lemon risotto, but tasty nonetheless.

 Ingredients:

•         1 ½ pounds sweet or hot Italian sausage

•         2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

•          ½ teaspoon kosher salt

•          Freshly ground black pepper to taste

•         5 to 6 cups chicken stock, ideally homemade

•          1 to 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

•         1 large onion, peeled and diced

•          1 ½ cups Arborio rice

•          ½ cup dry white wine

•          ½ cup packed and roughly grated Parmesan, plus more for serving

•         ½ of 1 lemon

•          2 cups baby spinach or kale leaves

•          ½ cup finely chopped Italian parsley leaves

Methods:

After removing the skin of the sausages, sprinkle it with salt and pepper and saute it for about 10 minutes in a large heavy skillet in the olive oil. Remove the sausage from the pan, leaving the rendered fat in the pan. 

Pour the stock into a medium saucepan or pot, and bring it to a low simmer. While the stock heats, return the skillet to medium-low heat and add 1 tablespoon butter. When the butter foams, add the diced onion, and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until it is soft and translucent. Add the rice, and stir until it's well coated. Stir until translucent, an additional 5 to 7 minutes.

Raise the heat under the rice to medium, and add the wine to the skillet. Stir until wine is absorbed, then reduce the heat slightly. Begin adding ladles full of hot broth to the rice, stirring constantly and allowing each addition to be absorbed before adding the next. Cook the rice until it is tender but slightly chewy, approximately 20 to 30 minutes. If additional liquid is needed, you can use boiling water. 

Remove the skillet from the heat, and stir in the cheese, sausage and baby spinach. Squeeze the lemon over the rice, and then mound the risotto on a large, warmed bowl. Scatter the parsley over the top, and serve immediately, with more grated Parmesan on the side.