The recipe I prepared included mushrooms, baby spinach, and bacon, with Asiago. The dish was supposedly light, but it was so rich, creamy, and bacon-y that it's just hard to believe it could be light. I guess that means it was risotto done right, as creamy is the goal and the reason one stands at the stove stirring, stirring, and stirring forever - well, for a long time anyway. I guess this constant stirring is necessary so that a) it doesn't burn, and b) it doesn't turn into one solid glob - not appetizing.
I served the risotto with roasted Brussels sprouts and carrots with a sprinkling of caraway seeds, sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper. The Brussels sprouts, especially, were really good with the risotto because, light or not, it's a rich dish and it was nice to have something green and slightly bitter to contrast with the creamy rice. Asparagus would have made a nice side too. And I kept thinking, bitter arugula instead spinach in the risotto itself might have been good. Maybe I'll try that sometime.
Below is a link to the recipe from Cooking Light magazine. I followed it to the letter, except that I did not use homemade chicken stock. (I hope you'll forgive me.)
Bacon & Wild Mushroom Risotto with Baby Spinach
Jen, I made a marvelous chili last night using rice and just a few black beans instead of the usual dosage of beans. It really came out great. We devoured a pan full that should have fed four or five. Everything was fresh and I made it from scratch.
ReplyDeleteI've grown nuts about risotto and look for restaurants that can really make it. I'll try the recipe. Thanks.