Pancetta Risotto with Truffle Oil

Can you believe that Thanksgiving was only two weeks ago? I can’t. I hosted this year’s festivities for my family, and it was a whirlwind of baking, laughing, shopping, and eating! Even after sending everyone home with food, I’ve had enough leftovers that minimal to no cooking has been required these past two weeks!

However, the most recent issue of Cooking Light has been staring at me for awhile, and I wanted to try at least one recipe. I chose this pancetta risotto with truffle oil because I love truffle oil and because I had all the ingredients on hand except the pancetta. I was going to use chopped up bits of honey ham from Thanksgiving, but I wanted to stay true to the recipe since it was so simple. (See the recipe here).

This risotto was delicious but a bit peppery for my taste. Next time I’ll probably add only a quarter teaspoon of pepper (as opposed to the recipe’s one whole teaspoon) and splash on some fresh lemon juice for good measure. It was definitely worth buying the pancetta because its crispness and saltiness balanced out the pepper and made the risotto’s texture more substantial. This recipe is worth a try, if not for the truffle oil alone!