On Sunday afternoon Ross’s Mom and my Mom and Dad came to Portland for the day for lunch in celebration of Mother’s Day. Typically we visit our Moms separately, but I thought this would be a nice opportunity to get everyone together, especially considering the wedding is less than three months away. Oh, by the way, AHHHHHHHHH!!! WEDDING STRESS!!!!!!!

Anyways, I decided to make a brunchy little lunch with foods and flavors I knew everyone would love. I’m obsessed with risotto, and who doesn’t love bacon and eggs? Asparagus is starting to come into season and goes so well with eggs so I knew it would work. Preparation is simple and everything comes together in under 45 minutes. Super easy and relatively impressive. Make this for your Mom, or someone else special in your life. It’s also a great way of saying thanks for putting up with 26 years of my antics. I’m not sure how she did it.

Risotto with Baked Eggs, Bacon and Asparagus
Serves 4-6

Ingredients
Risotto (based on this Ina Garten recipe):
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
2/3 cup dry white wine
3-4 minced shallots
4 cloves garlic
4 to 5 cups simmering chicken stock, low sodium
1/3 cup mascarpone cheese
salt and pepper to taste (I probably used 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. black pepper)
Baked Eggs:
4-6 eggs (however many you need)
1/2 tbsp. half and half for each egg
cooking spray
salt and pepper
Bacon:
Bacon – that’s it! I used about 3/4 pound for 5 people (about 2 slices each)
Asparagus:
About 1 lb. of trimmed thin asparagus
salted, boiling water.
Chives to top everything

1.) Preheat the oven to 350*F. Spray the ramekins with cooking spray, then pour 1/2 tbsp. of half and half into each ramekin. Crack one egg into each then top with pinches of salt and pepper.
2.) Lay your bacon onto a slotted baking sheet in a single layer, with a bit of space in between each piece.
3.) In a large pot heat the butter and olive oil to medium heat. In another smaller pot, simmer the chicken stock. When the butter is melted, saute the shallots and garlic for about 5 minutes, until fragrant and translucent. Add the rice and stir to coat each grain in the oil. Saute for about 2 minutes.
4.) Pour in the white wine and let it absorb totally. After that, stir in ladle-fulls (about 1/2 cup) of stock at a time. Stir constantly until absorbed. Repeat, stirring constantly, until all the stock is gone and the rice is tender and creamy.
3.) After about 10 minutes of cooking the risotto, put the bacon and eggs into the oven and start a large pot of water to boil for the asparagus. Cook the bacon and eggs for 25-30 minutes, until the bacon is crisp and the egg whites are set. I wound up broiling the eggs a bit, which I regret because I cooked the yolk. I also broiled the bacon and over-cooked it a bit. Don’t be like me.
4.) Once the risotto is cooked and the bacon and eggs are about ready to come out, drop the asparagus into the boiling water and cook for about 2 minutes, just until tender-crisp.
5.) Add the marscarpone cheese and salt and pepper to the risotto. Give it a taste, adjust seasonings as necessary.
6.) Plate it all up however you wish and then top with chives.

Oh yeah, and this happened. Franklin loves my parents a little too much. I think he would quit us and move in with them in a heartbeat. This face says “TAKE ME HOME WITH YOU GRAMMY AND GRAMPA!” Yeah, that’s how he refers to them.