Risotto With Bacon and Gorgonzola

Photo: Giancarlo Cairella

Ingredients

1 pound Arborio or Carnaroli rice

10 ounces smoked Bacon, diced

4 ounces Gorgonzola cheese, diced or crumbled

1 glass dry white wine, room temperature

1 cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated

1/2 cup butter

1/2 onion, chopped

6 cups Chicken broth

Preparation

Heat chicken broth in a pot until almost boiling, then reduce heat to simmer

Dice bacon strips and cook for 10 minutes in a skillet over medium/high heat

When bacon is cooked, drain and set aside. Discard grease.

Melt 1/4 cup of butter into a 6-quart stock pot until it starts foaming.

When butter is hot, add chopped onion and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion is golden.

Add rice and stir constantly. It should 'toast' for about one minute.

Add wine to rice and continue to stir well until fully absorbed, for about one minute or two.

Continue to stir constantly, or rice will burn. When rice is getting dry/too sticky, add one ladle of hot broth and keep stirring until it's mostly absorbed. Repeat, stirring constantly and adding broth for about 12/13 minutes. Rice should absorb the broth and gain volume.

Add Gorgonzola, stir until fully melted.

Stir in in bacon.

Rice will be ready when 'al dente' (fully cooked but still firm); Arborio rice is usually read in 18/20 minutes; Carnaroli in 16/18 minutes.

Remove from heat, add remaing 1/4 cup of butter and 1/2 cup of grated Parmigiano and stir well for a nice creamy texture.

Let it sit for another minute, then serve, sprinkling the rest of the grated Parmigiano cheese