This meal, which includes asparagus and bison bacon, is a robust twist on the classic risotto.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 35 mins |
| Additional Time: | 5 mins |
| Total Time: | 55 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 pound asparagus spears, trimmed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1 ⅓ cups uncooked Arborio or long-grain rice
- 4 cups chicken broth
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 8 ounces bison bacon
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place asparagus in single layer in a 15x10x1-inch baking pan. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake, uncovered, for 8 minutes or until crisp-tender. Cool slightly. Cut into bite-size pieces; set aside.
- Melt butter over medium heat in a large saucepan. Cook onion in hot butter for 4 to 5 minutes or until tender. Add rice. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Carefully stir in broth and pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes (do not lift lid).
- Meanwhile, cook bison bacon, 1/2 at a time, over medium heat in a large skillet for 5 to 6 minutes per batch or until crisp, turning occasionally. If necessary, drain on paper towels. Transfer to a cutting board. Cool slightly; chop into bite-size pieces.
- Remove saucepan from heat. Stir in asparagus. Let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Stir in bison bacon pieces and Parmesan cheese.
- Note: Recipe developed and tested by the Better Homes and Gardens(R) Test Kitchen using High Plains Bison products.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 237 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 35 g |
| Cholesterol | 25 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 12 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Sodium | 579 mg |
| Sugars | 2 g |
| Fat | 5 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
It’s good, but I replaced the onion with two large shallots, and instead of following the cooking instructions, I used the traditional method of making risotto. If you want that creamy texture and superb risotto, you must use arborio rice and nothing else; also, you never want to dump in all of the stock at once. You add the hot stock a ladle or so at a time, stirring, until all of the rice has absorbed the stock; then, you add more and repeat, until you’ve used all of your stock and the rice is the right consistency: not mushy, but slightly firm. This is a food of love, not convenience.
This is the most delicious risotto recipe! I went to Italy last year and this definitely compares! The first time I used turkey bacon to be healthier, but there was no fat leftover to brown the onions in. It came out real good and tasty but later I used the regular bacon, had the leftover fat to brown onions and garlic, and it was admittedly MUCH tastier! But you can do it the healthy way and still have great flavor!
Yum! This makes a large amount, so use a larger pot.
We couldn’t find bison bacon, so we used regular bacon. Still delish!
Good way to get my son to eat asparagus.
This was so good!! We followed the recipe as written with the Arborio rice and it came out great even though it is a different way to prepare risotto. Will definitely make this again
I used the Arborio rice. The method used in the recipe is not the general method used when preparing risotto, and long grain rice is not typically used either. I did add broth slowly to the rice mixture and it came out well.
We enjoyed this recipe! The technique for the Arborio rice is a little off (make sure you add liquid slowly and stir often only adding more liquid when it’s soaked up).