This Sweet Potato and Bacon Risotto is a crowd pleaser and is one to get the family round the dinner table for. Super simple to make, and easily customised to suit the kids too.
Boxes and ingredients are packed in facilities that handles Peanut, Nuts, Sesame, Fish, Crustaceans, Milk, Egg, Mustard, Celery, Soya, Gluten and Sulphites. Due to the war in Ukraine, it has been necessary to substitute sunflower oil with rapeseed oil in some products without a label change. The FSA have advised that allergic reactions to rapeseed oil are rare.
1
Sweet Potato
1
Red Onion
1
Courgette
(May contain Celery)
1
Garlic Clove
1
Flat Leaf Parsley
15
Flaked Almonds
(Contains Nuts May contain Sesame, Nuts, Peanut)
20
Chicken Stock Paste
90
British Smoked Bacon Lardons
175
Risotto Rice
40
Grated Hard Italian Style Cheese
(Contains Milk, Egg)
1
Olive Oil for the Drizzle
750
Water for the Stock
20
Butter
Preheat your oven to 200°C. Chop the sweet potato into 2cm chunks. Halve, peel and chop the red onion into small pieces. Trim the courgette then quarter lengthways. Chop widthways into small pieces. Peel and grate the garlic (or use a garlic press). Heat a large frying pan on medium heat (no oil). Once hot, add the flaked almonds and dry-fry, stirring regularly, until lightly toasted, 3-4 mins. TIP: Watch them like a hawk as they can burn easily. Transfer the almonds to a board once toasted and roughly chop. Set aside.
Pop the diced sweet potato onto a large baking tray. Drizzle with oil, season with salt and pepper then toss to coat. Spread out in a single layer. TIP: Use two baking trays if necessary. When the oven is hot, roast on the top shelf until golden, 20-22 mins. Turn halfway through. Meanwhile, finely chop the parsley (stalks and all). Pop the parsley and almonds into a bowl with the olive oil for the drizzle (see ingredients for amount). Mix together then set aside.
Meanwhile, pour the water for the stock (see ingredients for amount) into a medium saucepan on high heat. Add the chicken stock paste and stir to combine. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to the lowest setting. Pop your (now empty) frying pan back on medium-high heat. Add the bacon lardons. Stir-fry until golden, 4-5 mins. Add the onion and cook until softened, 4-5 mins. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 min more. IMPORTANT: Wash your hands and equipment after handling raw meat. Cook lardons thoroughly.
Add the risotto rice to the pan and reduce the heat to medium. Stir and cook until the edges of the rice are translucent, 1-2 mins. Add a ladle of your stock. When the stock has been absorbed by the rice, stir in another ladle of stock. Keep the pan on medium heat and continue stirring in stock, letting it absorb each time. The cooking time should take 20-25 mins and your risotto is done when your rice is ‘al dente’ - cooked through but with a tiny bit of firmness left in the middle. Stir the courgette into the risotto after 10 mins of cooking time.
Once the rice is cooked, gently stir through the cooked sweet potato. Mix in the butter (see ingredients for amount) and hard Italian style cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper if needed. TIP: Add a splash of water if needed.
Spoon the risotto into your bowls. Finish with a spoonful of the parsley and almond drizzle over the top. Enjoy!