Bacon and Parmesan Risotto

Every time that I have eaten risotto, I've loooved it. I found this awesome recipe that I wanted to try, but didn't think I'd have time or patience to whip it up today for Thanksgiving, so I modified it. While making this dish, my sister revealed to me that risotto is one of the more difficult things to make as it is hard to cook perfectly. I was up for the challenge! This ended up being pretty good, so I recommend trying it!

Ingredients

• 1 cup - fresh chopped bacon
• 5-6 cups - chicken stock
• 3-4 tablespoons - salted butter
• 1/2 white onion, chopped or diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cups - Arborio rice
• 3-4 tablespoons - salted butter
• 1/2 cup - freshly grated parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper 

Directions

Cook the bacon as directed by package in a large frying pan over medium heat until brown and crispy. Remove bacon from heat when finished, and set on paper towels on a plate. Set this plate aside.

In a small bowl, grate fresh parmesan until you have around 1/2 a cup. Set this bowl aside. 

Put the chicken stock in a large saucepan, and bring to a boil on high heat. Once it begins to boil, reduce heat, but keep the stock hot. 

Use a separate, large sauce pan and put it on medium/high heat. Place the butter in the pan, and allow it to melt. Put in the onions and garlic, and change the heat to medium. Once the onions are tender and brown on the edges, pour in the rice. 

Allow the rice to be coated in butter. Make sure the rice is slightly toasted before putting in the stock.

Add in 1/3 of the stock to the rice pot. Continuously stir this mixture until the stock has been absorbed by the rice, and it becomes creamy. Add in another 1/3, and repeat this process until all the stock is gone. 

This should take 15-20 minutes. I suggest tasting the rice to make sure it is cooked thoroughly, and not undercooked. If it is undercooked, heat up a little more broth, and add it to the rice mixture. 

Once the rice is cooked all the way through, remove the pan from the heat. You may keep the rice in the pan, or add it to a different dish. 

Add in the other 3-4 tablespoons of butter to the rice. Stir the rice to melt the butter. 

Finally, add in the parmesan cheese and the bacon. You may find it necessary to add more parmesan, it depends on how much you like, and how powerful you want the taste to be. Add salt and pepper if necessary. Enjoy! 

Don't worry, it looks better than that. I'll post a better picture of the final dish soon!