Brown Rice Risotto with Bacon, Leeks, Truffle Butter and Poached Eggs

March 08, 2013

Brown Rice Risotto with Bacon, Leeks, Truffle Butter and Poached Eggs

If you follow Pig and Paint on Facebook, you're probably totally like "share the brown rice risotto recipe already!!" I'm sorry followers. {sad face} The last couple of weeks have been busy as my maternity leave came to an end. I'm just finishing my second week back at work {heavy sigh}, and I have been going-going-going non-stop. Hoping this gets a little easier, but I don't know that it will ever feel "normal" to leave my baby boy in the care of someone else. At least, that's how I feel right now. Sorry to get all Eeyore on ya. HEY! You know what's happy and fantastic? BROWN RICE RISOTTO! Yeah, let's talk about that.

Risotto is typically made with arborio rice, which is a medium grain rice. You know what else comes in medium-grain-rice form? Brown rice! You can make brown rice risotto the same way you would with arborio rice. You'll just want to use more cooking liquid and plan for a longer cooking time.

This recipe was adapted from Bon Apetit's Bacon and Leek Risotto (which can be access by clicking here).

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups brown rice
2 large leeks
6 slices thick cut bacon
1 1/2 cups freshly grated parmesan
6 tsp white truffle butter
Pinch of crushed red pepper
8 cups chicken stock
2 large eggs per serving

Begin by adding the chicken stock to a stock pot and bring up to a low simmer. Add your oil and bacon to a dutch oven and heat over medium heat. Cook until bacon is crisp, stirring occasionally. Using slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to paper towels.

Add the leeks to the dutch oven; cook until soft but not brown, stirring often, 4 to 5 minutes.

Add the brown rice to pan; stir 1 to 2 minutes.

Add two ladles of the warm chicken stock; stir until absorbed, about 2 minutes. Continue adding broth (two ladles full at a time) and stirring until all broth has been added and rice is tender but still firm to bite and sauce is creamy, stirring almost constantly. Season to taste with salt and pepper. NOTE -- before the last of the chicken stock is absorbed, start bringing a pot of warm up to a simmer to poach your eggs. I typically add a splash of vinegar to the water and add my eggs when the water is simmering. I let them cook for a couple of minutes until they seem done.