This Broccoli Risotto with Pancetta is the perfect creamy comforting dish to make on a cozy winter evening. It’s really impressive and absolutely delicious!
This risotto turned out nice and creamy. The veggies added a wonderful flavor and the bacon was the perfect finishing touch.
It's easy to make but tastes like it's from a trendy restaurant!
Risotto is the perfect weeknight dinner whether you keep it simple just like this risotto or Porcini Mushroom Risotto or add in fruits like our Risotto with Pears and Gorgonzola cheese.
Ingredients
- Rice - Carnaroli is the best rice for risotto. It maintains a perfect texture, even after a long cooking time. An alternative rice option is Arborio rice.
- Broccoli - you can try it with cauliflower
- Vegetable Stock - Always use the highest quality stock you can get your hands for a really rich flavor
- White Whine - choose a dry white wine to add richness to the risotto.
- Soft cheese - This adds extra creaminess and richness
- Onion - Use a fresh finely chopped yellow or white onion
- Leak - for extra flavor
- Bacon -
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Cut the broccoli florets, peel the stem and cut it into small pieces. Rinse under running water. Boil in boiling salted water for ¾ minutes. Heat the broth.
Finely slice the white part of the leek. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, add the leek and let it dry, adding a drop of hot broth if necessary.
In the mixing bowl of the immersion mixer, put ¾ broccoli and the leek and roughly reduce.
Fry the finely chopped onion with the oil in the pan used previously.
Turn up the heat, add the rice, stir and let it toast for about a minute until the grains become shiny, stirring constantly. Deglaze with the wine and let it evaporate.
Reduce the heat and cook the risotto by adding a ladle of broth and stirring, until the broth is absorbed.
Halfway through cooking add the broccoli cream, the broccoli florets and continue cooking.
Fry the bacon in a non-stick saucepan without seasoning until crispy. Add to the risotto.
Once the risotto is ready, remove it from the heat, season with salt and pepper and add the cheese.
Let it sit for a minute, to allow the cheese to melt, then mix everything well together.
Substitutions
- Broth- instead of vegetable broth, you can use chicken or meat broth
- Butter - You can use oil; butter is generally preferred because, unlike oil, it contains a part of water, which keeps the temperature lower when toasting the rice, preventing it from "frying".
- Vegetarian - Pancetta can be omitted
- Vegan - the entire dish can be made vegan too if you use vegan butter and cheese and omit the pancetta
- Onion - you can use finely chopped shallots.
- Bacon - you can use pancetta
Equipment
Use a pan with a wide, thick bottom so that the rice is evenly distributed and as long as it spread the heat evenly.
Storage
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
The next day the risotto might be a bit sticky, you can reheat the risotto on the hob or in the microwave adding some broth to loosen it up.
Risotto does not stand up well to freezing.
Top tip
The onion should be browned but not burned, the temperature must always be low.
Rice Toasting is a fundamental phase to ensure that the external part of the rice, which is more tender than the internal heart, can harden slightly and during cooking allow for homogeneous cooking, the Spread the rice in the pan and toast it.
Using high-quality broth (poor quality broth or worse still water affects the rice flavor).
Make sure to heat your broth before adding it to the rice (cold broth blocks cooking)
Keep the heat on medium heat when cooking risotto.
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Recipe
Creamy Broccoli Risotto with Leek
Equipment
- 1 pan with a wide, thick bottom
Ingredients
- 350 gr. Carnaroli rice
- 1 l hot broth
- 500 g broccoli
- 1 small onion
- 1 leek
- ½ glass of dry white wine
- 100 gr. pancetta in cubes optional
- extra virgin olive oil to taste
- salt to taste
For the mantecatura:
- 150 g soft cheese
Instructions
- First cut the broccoli florets, peel the stem and cut it into small pieces. Rinse under running water. Boil in boiling salted water for ¾ minutes.
- Heat the broth.
- Finely slice the white part of the leek. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, add the leek and let it dry, adding a drop of hot broth if necessary.
- In the mixing bowl of the immersion mixer, put ¾ broccoli and the leek and roughly reduce.
- Fry the finely chopped onion with the oil in the pan used previously.
- Turn up the heat, add the rice, stir and let it toast for about a minute until the grains become shiny, stirring constantly. Deglaze with the wine and let it evaporate.
- Reduce the heat and cook the risotto by adding a ladle of broth and stirring, until the broth is absorbed.
- Keep adding the broth one ladle at a time, until the risotto is ready (this will take about 16/18 minutes, depending on the type of rice).
- Halfway through cooking add the broccoli cream, the broccoli florets and continue cooking.
- In the meantime, fry the bacon in a non-stick saucepan without seasoning until crispy. Add to the risotto.
- Once the risotto is ready, remove it from the heat, season with salt and pepper and add the cheese.
- Let it sit for a minute, to allow the cheese to melt, then mix everything well together.
- Serve your broccoli risotto.
Notes
Substitutions:
- Broth- instead of vegetable broth, you can use chicken or meat broth
- Butter - You can use oil; butter is generally preferred because, unlike oil, it contains a part of water, which keeps the temperature lower when toasting the rice, preventing it from "frying".
- Vegetarian - Pancetta can be omitted
- Vegan - the entire dish can be made vegan too if you use vegan butter and cheese and omi
Yes, it is. Use a pan with a wide bottom so that the rice is well distributed
Unfortunately not, risotto must be freshly prepared.
A good Risotto requires you to continually stir, and ladle in warm broth, in order to release the starches and not break.
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