Cauliflower Risotto with Mushrooms, Celery & Bacon

It's been a pretty exciting week after I found out that MySuit&Apron is one of the finalists in TWO categories of the 2014 Singapore Blog Awards! Thanks to all of you out there who have voted! And please note that you can still vote EVERYDAY for BOTH categories, until July 31. And here again are the links to vote:

BEST NEW BLOG: Find MySuit&Apron under "Best New Blog" category (This requires a FB log on the first time)

BEST COOKING BLOG: Find MySuit&Apron under Best Cooking Blog (This is under the Panasonic Singapore page; you will be asked for personal particulars at the first time and for those of you not living in SG, for the NRIC field, just type in any letter, any 7 digits, ending with any letter).

Thanks again for the support. So on to the task of the day, which is posting this week's recipe...

Here's a different and  healthier way to make risotto: substitute grated cauliflower for the alborio rice, and add celery, mushrooms, bacon and cheese. So delicious and healthy! Omit the bacon if you'd like to make it purely veg.

The humble cauliflower...it's bland, both in taste and appearance, a seemingly poor relation of the more popular, colourful broccoli. But I like it because it's so versatile. Who would have thought you could turn this into "risotto"?

All you need is a food processor, and if you don't have one, I think you could still do it with a grater too, and some patience. :)

CAULIFLOWER RISOTTO WITH MUSHROOMS, CELERY & BACON
Serves 6

1 large head of cauliflower
1 onion, minced
1 garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, minced
2 cups sliced mushrooms
120 ml chicken broth
1 cup bacon, minced
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Herbs for garnish (I used chives)

Note: You can remove the bacon and replace the chicken broth with salt to taste, to make this a purely vegetarian dish.

PROCEDURE:

1.  Cut the cauliflower head into rough chunks. Put it into your food processor, using the shredding disk, and pulse, until it resembles tiny grains of rice.

2.  Fry the bacon until crispy. Add the onion, garlic and celery until cooked. If it is too dry and you find that the mixture is sticking, add a little oil.

Don't worry if it sticks a bit to the pan, as the broth will later deglaze these bits of flavour.

3.  Add the sliced mushrooms and sauté until mushrooms are tender.

4.  Add the cauliflower rice and sauté for a few minutes. Add the broth.

Mix well and cover for about 7 to 10 minutes.  Make sure that the cauliflower remains al dente and doesn't become mushy.

5.  Transfer to a serving dish.  Grate the cheese on top and add minced herbs. Then sit back and enjoy this healthy dish!