Bacon, Wine and Risotto on a Diet! Easy Baked Bacon and Mushroom Risotto Recipe (5:2 Diet)
Bacon, Wine and Risotto on a Diet!
Easy Baked Bacon and Mushroom Risotto Recipe (5:2 Diet)
Bacon, Wine and Risotto on a Diet! Easy Baked Bacon and Mushroom Risotto Recipe (5:2 Diet)
One of the things I miss when I am on a diet is bacon! Oh yes, as well as wine too……and a good few other things such as cheese, bread, pies, cakes and biscuits…..but now, you can have your bacon, as well as wine and even a rather large plate of risotto, and the whole delicious recipe is only 380 calories per serving, and it has bacon, wine and mushrooms in it, so it felt like a bit if a treat when Malcolm and I enjoyed it the other evening. I LOVE risotto and I do like the traditional way of making it where you add the liquid spoon by spoon, allowing the rice to absorb it all, so you are left with a creamy and unctuous plate of flavoured rice; but, I simply don’t have the time to stand at the stove to make it this way sometimes, and with me manically trying to multi-task the other evening, I decided to “oven-bake” it, even though it was not a suggestion in the recipe I was following.
Bacon, Wine and Risotto on a Diet! Easy Baked Bacon and Mushroom Risotto Recipe (5:2 Diet)
I know someone who will be very pleased that I made an oven-baked risotto, that was healthy too, and that’s Dom from Belleau Kitchen, as he has some GREAT baked risotto recipes, and this recipe is all down to his Random Recipes challenge, as this is my random recipe, taken from a pile of “Healthy” cookbooks, as his theme for June is Healthy and Happy. This recipe comes from an old Weight Watchers cookbook of mine, Pure Points, as I am a life-long member of Weight Watchers, (I reached my goal weight following the diet 25 years ago) I have a few old cookbooks from that period. My random page number was page 75, which had TWO recipes on the page, Paella and Bacon and Mushroom Risotto; the choice was easy in the end as I had all of the ingredients for the risotto and not the paella. Plus, the risotto had less calories for a healthy and happy theme! I DID adapt the recipe a lot – hence me sharing it on my blog; I only used 2 rashers of bacon instead of 4 rashers, I omitted the lemon, I used vegetable stock and I oven-baked it, so quite a few changes.
Weight Watchers Pure Points
By reducing the amount of bacon in the recipe, I got the calories down to 380 from 450 – so this is a brilliant recipe for anyone following the 5:2 diet for a fast day. To be honest, the 2 rashers of bacon added just enough bacon taste and if I wasn’t following a strict calorie counted diet, I would just add the full amount as suggested. I also used dried ceps mushrooms instead of porcini and they add a fabulous almost smoky taste to the risotto. We both enjoyed this risotto the other evening with loads of crisp salad leaves, fresh tomatoes and some radishes with sea salt……my favourite way of eating radishes, based on the French way to serve them with butter and salt. The portion size was large and it made a very satisfying and healthy main meal, with bags of flavour too.
Bacon, Wine and Risotto on a Diet! Easy Baked Bacon and Mushroom Risotto Recipe (5:2 Diet)
So, a BIG thanks to Dom for leading me to this cookbook after many years, via his cooking challenge, and a huge thanks to good old Weight Watchers for coming up with such an interesting recipe for those on a diet. My oven-baking turned out a dream and we were rewarded with creamy rice and lots of wine-infused flavours, it was LUSH! My amended recipe is below, so do give this recipe a whirl if you fancy a low-calorie risotto treat one day. That’s all for now, see you later and have a great Thursday, Karen.
Bacon, Wine and Risotto on a Diet! Easy Baked Bacon and Mushroom Risotto Recipe (5:2 Diet)
Easy Baked Bacon and Mushroom Risotto (Low-Calorie)
Print recipe
| Serves | 2 |
| Prep time | 15 minutes |
| Cook time | 30 minutes |
| Total time | 45 minutes |
| Meal type | Lunch, Main Dish, Side Dish, Snack, Starter |
| Misc | Pre-preparable, Serve Hot |
| Occasion | Casual Party, Christmas, Easter, Formal Party, Thanksgiving, Valentines day |
| Region | Italian |
| By author | Pure Points by Weight Watchers |
Ingredients
- 2 medium rashers of lean back bacon
- 100g fresh mushrooms, sliced
- 2 dried porcini (ceps) mushrooms (soaked in 150mls boiling water for 10 minutes)
- low-fat cooking spray
- 1 medium onion (peeled and finely chopped)
- 175g risotto rice
- 150mls dry white wine
- 300mls vegetable stock
- small bunch of parsley (chopped)
- salt and freshly ground pepper
Note
A delicious oven baked risotto with only 380 calories per serving, meaning you can have your bacon and wine, as well as risotto and eat it, whilst on a low-calorie or healthy diet! Suitable for all those following the 5:2 diet for fast days, as well as anyone following Weight Watchers. (This recipe is a much adapted recipe from the Weight Watchers Pure Points 2002 cookbook.)
Directions
| Step 1 | Grill the bacon until it is crispy. Crumble or chop it into small pieces and set aside. |
| Step 2 | Heat a frying pan. spray in some low-fat cooking spray and add the sliced mushrooms; season them to taste with salt and pepper and stir-fry for 5 minutes. Set aside. |
| Step 3 | Drain the porcini (ceps) mushrooms, reserving the soaking liquor, and then chop them up finely and add them to the fried fresh mushrooms. |
| Step 4 | Heat the frying pan again and spray with some low-fat spray and add the chopped mushrooms; fry them for about 5 minutes until softened and then add the rice, wine, porcini soaking liquor and stir vigorously. |
| Step 5 | Stir in the cooked bacon and mushrooms, and then add all of the vegetable stock and transfer all of the risotto to an oven-proof baking dish or casserole dish with a lid. |
| Step 6 | Cover the risotto and bake in a pre-heated oven 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6 for 25 to 30 minutes or until the risotto is soft and creamy. Stir through the chopped parsley and serve immediately. |
Bacon, Wine and Risotto on a Diet! Easy Baked Bacon and Mushroom Risotto Recipe (5:2 Diet)
Dominic says
gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!… you KNOW how much i love a risotto and I think this will become a firm favourite at home… a lovely recipe and so glad I could be of service to lead you to an old faithful book like this… sometimes the classics are the best!… thanks so much for the lovely entry xxx
Karen says
THANKS so much Dom! I KNEW you would love this recipe and I was so pleased with the way it turned out after oven-baking. I agree, the classics are often the best and this is on the menu again soon as we both loved the recipe! Karen
Dominic says
oh by the way, your photo’s are simply stunning – magazine worthy, so beautiful and professional but also have a lovely home-spun quality too… really lovely x
Karen says
Thanks Dom! 🙂 I often think my photos are too rustic and I long to be able to produce slick photos all staged and perfectly arranged, but reality dictates that they get taken on the table with my chopping boards and ingredients….with the recipe all served ready for eating!
Kathryn says
I wouldn’t have thought a risotto would fit in on a fast day but you’ve done the impossible. It looks so delicious!
Karen says
Thanks Kathryn – me too, I thought that a good risotto with wine would be a hefty calorie count, but was pleased to discover this recipe, which proved me wrong! Karen
Lisa Williams says
beautiful 🙂 I am a huge risotto fan 🙂
Lisa Williams says
tweeted to share
Lisa Williams says
and tweeted again hopefully someone will make this for me 🙂
Lisa Williams says
I made this last night and it is delicious 🙂
Deb says
Oh this is one I am definitely going to try. I love Risotto. I made the Curried Carrot soup last night for my fast day and the family just wolfed it down. It was just yummy.
Karen says
Thanks Deb! I think you will love this, we both loved it when we ate it the other night! Karen
Maya Russell says
We sometimes get ceps in the woods but I’ve never cooked any, just in case I’m wrong.
Great recipe!
Denise says
I love these easy recipes that you can pop in the oven and walk away – no constant stirring. Will have to make this one.
Karen says
Thanks Denise, this is so easy to make and yet very tasty! Karen
Mushrooms Canada says
I can hear all of the cheering through my screen. What a life saver you are! Thanks for sharing this fabulous recipe…
-Shannon
Karen says
My pleasure Shannon! You made me laugh, such a lovely comment, thanks! Karen
Rachel Blackburn says
This looks amazing! I’m going to give this a try at the weekend. I’ll let you know how I get on. Tweeted too.
Janice says
I can’t believe how many of your posts I have missed commenting on. not enough time these days, I love risotto and this one looks very good and good for you too, double whammy!
Lisa Williams says
tweeted to share 🙂
Lisa Williams says
shared again 🙂
Paula Harvey says
Thank you for the inspiration! I find it hard when on diets to come up with imaginative recipes!
Bavance says
My husband and I loved this!! But want to point out that step 4 should be to add the chopped onion, not the chopped mushrooms. I was so confused in trying to fix this while being distracted by phone calls and my husband. Finally was able to decipher this! I used quite a few more mushroom (a variety) but this will go into a regular rotation in my kitchen! Thanks!
Karen says
Thanks for pointing this out Bavance, I will amend that, it happens sometimes as it takes ages to add the recipes to the printable recipe data base! DO pleased you liked the recipe though! Karen
Hilary says
Hello, I have just joined your site for the 5:2 recipes, which look great! Do you ever use the microwave rice, lentil or grain pouches instead of ordinary rice etc.as I find them very useful for the two of us on diet days.
Karen Burns-Booth says
I do, but they add calories as they contain oil.
Julia Jacobs says
I found this recipe and made it last night – it is fantastic! Easy, tasty, and a 5:2 recipe! I couldn’t believe it. All your recipes are very easy to follow, and all the 5:2 ones that I have tried have been really, really good, this one is going to be a firm favorite from now on!
Karen Burns-Booth says
Thanks so much indeed for your wonderful comments and good luck with the 5:2 diet too! Karen
Jeanette says
This sounds just fantastic. Trying it tomorrow and can’t wait.
Karen Burns-Booth says
It is one of my favourite 5:2 diet recipes, I hope you enjoy it too! Karen