Spring Pea & Goat Cheese Risotto

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F. On a foil lined baking tray, line up the bacon so that no 2 pieces are touching each other. Bake for 10 minutes, flip, and bake for an additional 8-10 minutes or until at your desired crispiness. Once out of the oven, set aside to cool.

While the bacon is baking, you can begin the risotto.

In a medium saucepan, heat the stock so that its just warmed through and at a VERY minimal simmer. Keep on the heat until needed.

In a large pot, heat the butter until just melted and then add in the onion and thyme and cook until the onion is just translucent which is about 8 minutes.

Turning up the heat a bit, add in the risotto rice and let cook for a few minutes, stirring frequently to let the rice get to the point that it's almost frying and the rice becomes a bit translucent.

Add in the wine and stir to combine. Turn the heat back down to a gentle simmer.

Add in just one ladle full of the stock and a pinch of salt. Stir to combine and let simmer until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Repeat this until all of the stock has been added. When you add in your last ladle full of stock, stir in the peas.

You can cook the risotto so that most/ all of the liquid has been absorbed OR you can stop cooking the risotto so that there's a decent amount of liquid remaining. I cook most of the liquid out of mine.

Once done, take off of the heat and stir in roughly 2/3 of the goat cheese and all of the parmesan cheese. Stir until the cheese is fully melted and combined. Stir in a bit of freshly ground black pepper if desired.

Chop the bacon into bite size pieces and stir into the risotto. Reserving a bit of the bacon for topping if desired.

Serve and top each dish with the remaining goat cheese and any remaining bacon. ENJOY!!!