Red Wine, Bacon and Tarragon Risotto Recipe

Our red wine, bacon and tarragon risotto recipe was inspired by the flavours of a coq au vin; a French red wine stew of chicken, bacon and mushrooms. This comforting dish makes a great midweek meal on a cold winter's night.

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This highly inauthentic but highly tasty risotto recipe is inspired by the French stew Coq au vin. We use the traditional ingredients of the stew (bacon lardons, onion, celery, leek and button mushrooms) for the base of the risotto and cook it using red wine instead of the usual white. A fresh, grassy, aniseed hit of tarragon finishes off the risotto perfectly, making this a recipe we're sure you'll keep returning to.

If by any chance you have leftovers, it makes the most delicious stuffing for a roast chicken!

1 tsp vegetable oil
200g of bacon lardons
1 onion, diced
1 celery stick, sliced
1 small leek, sliced
3 garlic cloves, sliced
300g of carnaroli risotto rice, or arborio rice
400ml of red wine
200g of button mushrooms, halved
4 sprigs of fresh tarragon
600ml of chicken stock, ideally fresh, warmed in a pan
100g of butter
50g of Parmesan
salt
pepper

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Place a large pan over a medium heat and fry off the bacon lardons in a teaspoon of vegetable oil. The lardons may release some water; wait until this cooks off and the lardons begin to colour and crisp

Add the onion, celery, leek and garlic with a pinch of salt and sweat down for about 8 minutes, until the vegetables are soft but not starting to colour

Add the rice and stir for a few minutes until the rice starts to toast a little

Add the red wine with the mushrooms and 2 sprigs of tarragon and leave to simmer and reduce whilst stirring regularly

Once the wine has been absorbed by the rice, add the warm chicken stock, a ladle at a time, letting the rice absorb each spoonful of stock before adding the next. Stir regularly to release the starch from the rice, as this is what gives you a creamy risotto

You may not need all the stock, or you may need a little more – keep tasting the rice so you know when it is cooked. Once you are happy with the texture, take off the heat and beat in the butter and Parmesan, then leave to sit with a lid on for 5 minutes

Pick out the stalks from the tarragon before serving, then garnish with fresh tarragon leaves and serve

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