Risotto Carbonara
Risotto Carbonara
Ingredients:
1 cup arborio rice
3 ½ cups warm chicken or vegetable stock
½ cup white wine
1 white onion, finely diced
5 garlic cloves minced
4 oz. pancetta
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 large eggs, plus one egg yolk
100g pecorino romano
1 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp cracked black pepper
Warm the chicken stock in a small pot and reserve. Render the pancetta in a large cold skillet bringing it up to temperature until crispy. Remove the pancetta, keeping the fond (brown bits) in the skillet. Drop in the butter and melt it down before adding the white onion and garlic. Sweat them out with the kosher salt (5 minutes), being cautious not to over-salt as the remainder of our ingredients will add a lot of saltiness.
Grate and measure out 100g of the pecorino romano cheese into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, carefully crack your eggs and separate the yolk from the third. Whisk the eggs into the pecorino with the black pepper until it forms a pale yellow paste and reserve.
Add the arborio rice into the skillet and cook for 3-4 minutes to toast the rice grains. Deglaze the pan with a half cup of good white wine, stirring and scraping the fond off the bottom of the skillet until the liquid is absorbed (2=3 minutes). Add about a ½ cup of warm stock at a time, stirring until the liquid is absorbed, and continuing this process until all the stock is used and the rice is fully cooked through (about 15-20 minutes). Turn off the heat.
Temper the egg and cheese mixture by slowly adding one spoonful of the warm risotto at a time, whisking immediately and vigorously. Once the entire mixture is warmed through, pour into the remaining risotto and immediately stir again. The timing is key here as we don’t want to end up with risotto scrambled eggs. Turn the stove back on to a low heat, and stir everything together for 1-2 minutes.
Fold the reserved pancetta back into the risotto. Check for any seasonings if needed. Serve warm with an extra grating of pecorino and enjoy!
