Roasted Corn and Beef Risotto

Have you ever had risotto out at a restaurant and wondered how to make it? A lot of times I see risotto as the vegetarian dish on the menu, typically mushroom risotto. Well, today you are going to learn how to make it at home, to save a few bucks.

Risotto is a creamy Italian rice dish that is typically made using arborio rice, onion, garlic and broth. It does require more attention while cooking compared to other types of rice, but the end result is so delicious and totally worth it! You can make risotto as a side dish or main entree. 

Last time I made this dinner, I used pancetta, shrimp and grilled corn on the cob as the stars.  I am not sure if you have heard of pancetta before, but it is an Italian bacon that most deli counters sell. This time I chose to use regular pork bacon because I had some in fridge that needed to get used up. Both are great options, but if you decide to use pancetta, you will probably want to decrease the baking time (in the recipe below) because it is typically sliced much thinner than traditional bacon.  So I love corn - all varieties, but my favorite it definitely corn on the cob. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen corn on the cob at the grocery store yet this year. I knew I still wanted to use corn in this dish, so I just decided to use frozen. I would always recommend frozen over canned, because frozen veggies are more nutritious, have less sodium, and usually have better flavor because they are flash frozen in their peak life to maintain freshness.  If you can find corn on the cob, definitely consider grilling it and using that in the recipe because the flavor is like nothing else. The last change I made this time around was to use beef instead of shrimp. I actually like shrimp better than beef, but we have been eating a lot of shrimp lately, so just decided to switch it up for this blog entry. As always, the take home point - use what you want and have around the house. Be flexible. Learn the technique and try many different ways.

Roasted Corn and Beef Risotto

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

Steak, 6-8 oz of your favorite cut
Arborio rice, 1 c
Frozen corn, 1 c
Bacon, 4 slices
Onion, 1 small, chopped
Garlic, 2 cloves
Dry wine, ½ c
Chicken stock, 4 c
Parsley, ¼ c chopped
Parmesan Cheese, ¼ c shredded
Oil
Salt and Pepper

 
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake bacon and corn for 15 - 17 minutes on a greased pan. Once done cooking, remove bacon and lay on a paper towel to drain. Set corn aside. Once bacon has drained on paper towel for a bit, chop into small pieces. 

While the bacon is cooking. Add oil to a saute pan and heat to medium heat. Add onion and cook until almost translucent, approximately 3 - 4 minutes. Add chopped garlic, cooking for 30 seconds and then add rice, salt and pepper cooking an additional 30 seconds. Next, add wine cooking until wine is absorbed, approximately 30 seconds - 1 minute. Add 1 cup of chicken stock. Continue to stir frequently, adding an additional ½ c stock each time the liquid absorbs. Total cooking time will be approximately 22 minutes. 

 

 

 

While risotto is cooking, cut up beef into bite size pieces and cook to desired level of doneness, 3 - 5 minutes. 

 
Once the rice is a creamy rich consistency, add beef, corn, parsley, cheese and bacon and stir to mix.

Serve immediately. 

Better Bonus Tip: If you aren’t serving immediately, wait to add the bacon until the last minute to maintain some crunch. 
  

As we were eating this meal, my husband commented it might be good with a little heat. Try adding some crushed red pepper flakes if that sounds good to you.

 

Better Bonus Tip: If you have leftover risotto, it can become sticky, so for variety, form into patties, add breadcrumbs to the outside and fry in a little oil to provide a crispy outside and creamy inside. 

**Update: I have made this many times and for some reason, always used chicken stock. Lately though, I have been using beef broth which makes more sense anyway because of the steak. I think I like it better with the beef broth!

~Ashley