Risotto with Bacon, Cloves & Coriander - Exotic Gluten-Free Meal

Another original recipe with an incredible combination of flavours. 
You must definitely try it! 
You'll fall in love with it. 

You might have noticed that my recipes are very budget friendly, uniquely brave and original. 
They are not pretentious, so if you're a snob, this page is not for you. 
I am sorry. 
Actually, I am not sorry. Why would I? 

I normally don't buy or use stock in my recipes. That's because I add a combination of spicy herbs, onion, garlic and bacon. 
Not in all of course. No bacon in my vegan or vegetarian meals. I promise. 
  
Everything made with onion is delicious.
Am I right? 

Unless you can stand it. Then it's not delicious at all. 
Your loss. 

I need to highlight that this is not a classic creamy risotto, but more of a dry one. 
Nothing to do with the Italian cuisine. Just my holistic cuisine. 

Perfect for celiacs, and gluten-free diets. 

Degree of difficulty: low-medium (depending on your cooking skills)

Preparation time: 20 min

Servings: 2

Ingredients

• 350 - 400 g  of rice - arborio, jasmine, basmati or whatever you like or afford. I used pre-cooked rice. This will absolutely make all Italians in this Galaxy to feel outraged. Well, again... it is my recipe. Nothing to do with the amazing Italian cuisine that I adore and respect. 
• 150 g bacon, possibly smoked. You can also use: guanciale, pancetta, chorizo, and so on 
• 1 yellow onion or shallot 
• 3 cloves of garlic or 1 tsp of garlic powder 
• 6 cloves 
• 10 coriander seeds - Please do not add fresh leaves. They have a completely different taste.
• 2  tbsps of olive oil - or the one you fancy
• a pinch of salt
• approx 300 ml of hot water or soup
• 20 ml of white or red wine - your choice. And it's not really a must. You can skip it. The taste would be just a tiny bit different. I promise you can survive without it.

Optional

• 2 tbsps of Grana Padano, Parmigiano Reggiano, grated cheddar, mozzarella or any cheese you fancy. As previously, I added none this time because the recipe is a calory bomb already. But I tried it before and it's lush! 
• a tbs of butter

Method of preparation 

• Peel the onion and the garlic

• Crush the garlic, or chop it as finely as possible

• Chop the onion as you like

• Cut the bacon (the guanciale, pancetta, chorizo, etc.) 

• Put the oil in a pan - heat it - add the cloves, coriander seed, the garlic and the onion, stir for a minute. If you add garlic powder, you will do so at the very end. It doesn't need to cook. 

• Add the bacon and let it fry - about 5 minutes - stirring from time to time to avoid burning it

• Add the rice, stir 

• If you add wine, now is the time. Pour it, stir until evaporates 

• Add boiling water enough to cover the rice. Please don't add all the water at once. Especially if you are a beginner. There are many types of rice, I can't tell you with precision how much water is enough. Some suck a lot of water, others not so much - jasmine, basmati, precooked rice for example. You will check the rice, then add another bit of water and so on until it's ready. It's just a matter of practice. If you pour too much water from the start, it becomes a soup. It's not a big deal. It's actually great. 

• After adding water, cover the pan with a lid and fix the flame to minimum. Leave for 7 minutes then check and stir. This is not something an Italian would do. However, this method (my method) saves you at least 5 minutes of cooking. Saving 5 minutes of cooking means saving gas, electricity and... time! 

• After 7 minutes of slow cooking, check and add more water if needed. How much is more? 4 - 5 tbsp? Cover again, leave for other 5 minutes and check again until it's ready

• Stop the fire and serve hot with grated cheese and butter or not. I promise it's a recipe to die for... as all my recipes.  

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