I absolutely love adding little twists to classic meals, this is what makes homecooking so exciting!! So as the name suggests this is my twist on the classic carbonara, risotto style.. after all imagine all the delicious flavours of carbonara but soaked in to a lovely creamy risotto. Perfection.
I cooked a risotto during my time on BBC1 Best Home Cook competition, and it was bit of a disaster to tell you the truth, but I was given a few tips by none other the Michelin star chef Angela Harnett, and not to mention my Itailian friend from the show Elisabetta.. and now my risotto game is top notch.. I'd like to share those tips with you, to take your homecooking up a step.
Firstly you should always be able to pour a risotto when serving, you shouldn't have to spoon it out, risottos are meant to be loose and creamy.
Secondly to create the creamy texture of risotto rice, you should take the time to nurse it as its cooking, by this I mean stir it often, by stirring the rice grains rub up one another and release their starch creating the most beautiful luxurious texture but the time its finished cooking.
Ok before you bash me that their is cream in this recipe, I'm well aware that a classic carbonara should use NO cream, but.. this isn't a classic carbonara, the fact is the cream just helps the egg yolks incorporate nicely into the risotto rice.
rice Is there anything better then a big comforting bowl of risotto? Follow my recipe and add a new spin on your favourite Italian dish, using only a few flavours this dish really lets the simple tomato shine, what a tasty way to enjoy a healthy meal. I took my risotto up a level by slow roasting some beautiful tomatoes, if you're in a rush leave them off, but they really are worth the wait.
Generous portions!
Prep time 10 mins
Cooking time 45 mins
100g smoked pancetta, diced
2tbsp butter (unsalted)
1 fat garlic clove, peeled and squashed with the back of a spoon
2 shallots, finely diced (or a medium sized onion, finely diced)
200g risotto rice
200ml white wine
800ml hot chicken stock (keep this warm by putting it in another saucepan on a low heat, it will incorporate into the risotto rice much better if its not added cold)
2 egg yolks
3tbsp double cream
50g grated parmesan
Black pepper to taste (roughly 1/4tsp)
In a sauté pan (or deep frying pan) add the bacon lardons and dry fry (this means cook with no oil) on a medium heat until they are cooked through and beginning to brown, we don't want them to crispy though. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Heat the butter in the same pan on a medium heat and add the squashed garlic clove, cook for about a minute and a half, this will add a lovely hint of garlic to the dish. After this time remove the garlic from the butter and discard.
Now add the diced onion and gently sauté in the butter until soft, if you've diced it lovely and finely it should take about 5-7 minutes. I found while my onion was cooking the residue on the bottom from cooking the bacon in the same pan began to get darker so I added about 100ml of water and stirred to deglaze the pan and unstick anything stuck to the pan before it burns. Don't worry if you see flecks of colour in your onions, this is all flavour, as long as we don't leave it to burn first. Be sure to cook the liquid away if you need to add it before you do the next step.
Now once the shallots are nice and soft add the rice in, cook for a couple of minutes stirring a couple of times.
Now turn the heat up slightly and add the white wine, stirring often, once the wine has evaporated turn the heat back down to a medium-low.
Ok now comes the best part... add the stock in one ladle at a time, stirring often and ensuring each ladle has been fully absorbed before the next one is added. We stir often because as the rice grains rub up against each other they release their starch and this is what creates the beautiful creamy texture of a risotto, so you want a fine balance of stirring enough to release the starch but also not so often that the rice doesn't get a rest and the chance to soak in the the tasty stock.
Continue adding the stock until the rice is fully cooked, about 30 mins, I found mine didn't need anymore stock then this but you can always use a little less or more depending on whether rice is fully cooked. (Just keep tasting)
Once you are happy with how the rice is cooked take it off the heat and allow to cool for a couple of minutes, we don't want to add egg while its really hot or we'll end up with scrambled eggs.. ergh.
While the rice is cooking in a bowl whisk together the egg yolks and the double cream, now add a large spoon full of the now warm risotto mixture and mix it in with the egg and cream, this will temper the eggs and ensure they don't scramble. Now pour that back in to the rest of the cooled risotto and stir well.
Once well mixed in, re-add the bacon lardons, and the grated parmesan and stir well until you have a gooey delicious risotto, turn the heat back on to low to warm it back up again slightly, have a taste, you shouldn't need any salt but perhaps add the pepper if you want.
Pour into a couple of bowls and enjoy!!
