Bacon and Wild Mushroom Risotto with Baby Spinach

Risotto is one of my favorite things to eat but it is not always one of my favorite things to make, purely for the fact that you need to constantly stir and add broth slowly. I think this risotto recipe came out the best that I've made so far. It was creamy and low-fat. I changed the recipe a little to save some more time, Cooking Light has a recipe for homemade chicken stock in their recent magazine to go with the risottos in the issue, but I opted for the can. The combo of the crispy bacon with the mushrooms and the asiago cheese was so yummy. My cousin Kelsie came to dinner that night and we had a blast, maybe a little too much fun!

Bacon and Wild Mushroom Risotto with Baby Spinach

Cooking Light May 2010

Serves 5 ( 1 1/4 cup per serving )

Ingredients

4 to 4 1/2 cups of chicken stock ( I always end up adding more broth then necessary so I like to have extra if it still doesn't look done)

6 bacon slices, chopped

1 cup chopped shallots

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

4 garlic cloves, minced

4 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced

4 ounces shitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced

4 ounces oyster musrooms, sliced

1 cup uncooked Carnaroli or Arborio rice or other medium -grain rice (I have used both types but for this I used Arborio)

1/3 cup Madiera wine or dry sherry

4 cups baby spinach

1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Asiago cheese

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Bring chicken stock to a simmer in a small sauce pan (do not boil); keep warm over low heat.

2. Heat a large Dutch Oven over medium heat. Add bacon to pan; cook 8 minutes or until crisp, stirring occasionally. Remove bacon from pan with a slotted spoon. Add shallots, oil, thyme, and garlic to drippings in pan; cook 6 minutes or until shallots are tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in mushrooms; cook 8 minutes, stir occasionally. Add rice, and cook 1 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in Madiera; cook 1 minute or until the liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly. Stir in 1 cup stock; cook 4 minutes or until the liquid in nearly absorbed, stirring constantly. Add remaining stock , 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly until each portion of stock is absorbed before adding the next (about 25 minutes total). Stir in spinach; cook 1 minutes. Remove from heat stir in cheese, salt, and pepper. Sprinkle with bacon about 1 tablespoon each serving.

NOTE: Denis added a few shrimp to his dinner. And I served the risotto with an arugula salad and a lemon dressing.