Bacon and Asparagus Risotto

Bacon and Asparagus Risotto

Bacon and Asparagus Risotto — prep 10 min, cook 35 min, serves 3. View the full ingredients and method on SmartBites.

Prep time
10 min
Cook time
35 min
Total time
45 minutes
Servings
3

Recipe tags

  • Family Favourite
  • One Pot
  • Italian

Ingredients

  • 200 g Smoked Bacon Lardons
  • 1 bunch Asparagus Spears
  • 125 g Mushrooms
  • 300 g Risotto Rice
  • 1 item Chicken Stock Cube
  • 1 item Vegetable Stock Cube
  • 70 g Grated Parmesan
  • 25 g Butter
  • 0.5 tsp Dried Italian Herbs
  • 1 pinch Salt
  • 1 pinch Pepper
  • 1 tsp Olive Oil
  • 1 tsp Chopped Garlic

Method

  1. Prepare the asparagus by chopping them into 1-2cm lengths. Slice the mushrooms.
  2. Heat the oil and half the butter in a frying pan and add the bacon lardons. Fry for 5 minutes until starting to crisp.
  3. Add the asparagus, mushrooms and garlic and fry for a further 5 minutes. Meanwhile, boil the kettle and make up 1 litre of stock from the chicken and vegetable stock cube in a large jug.
  4. Transfer the bacon, mushrooms and asparagus onto a plate, leaving any juices in the frying pan. Add the remaining butter and once melted add the risotto rice, stirring and coating it in the butter mixture for 1 minute.
  5. Add stock to the rice a little at a time and keep on medium heat for around 20 minutes until the rice is tender and most of the stock has been added. There should be some liquid remaining in the pan.
  6. Stir in the bacon, mushrooms and asparagus. Add the Italian herbs, and season with a little salt and some pepper. Stir in half the parmesan to make a creamy sauce.
  7. Keep the heat low for 2 more minutes and then serve with a sprinkle of the remaining parmesan.

Notes

  • A wonderful mid-week dinner with simple ingredients. You will need to hang about in the kitchen and look after the rice on this one.

Tips

  • Serve with your favourite garlic bread to mop up those flavoursome juices. I always have a pack of garlic slices in my regular item list!
  • The bacon will make this dish already salty so be sure to taste a little before you add more salt at the end.

Swaps and substitutes

  • You can just use chicken stock cubes, but I think the vegetable stock cubes bring a little more variety of flavour in the sauce.
  • If you like you can swap out 200ml of stock for the equal amount of dry white wine.

No-waste tips

  • Mushrooms are a fresh item and last a few days in the fridge. If you have left over be sure to check out other recipes using mushrooms to add to your meal plan for the week.