Despite breaking all the “rules” of risotto, this bacon and barley version is intensely delicious.

It starts by ditching the rice in favor of quick barley, a common soup ingredient that takes just 10 minutes to cook. Barley has a chewier and in some ways more satisfying texture than the traditional arborio rice called for by most recipes.

To lend deep savory flavor to this risotto, the butter normally used to saute the onion (and often to briefly toast the rice) is replaced with bacon fat. No, it’s not the leanest thing in the world. But it is good.

You get the bacon fat by first cooking several strips of bacon. The cooked bacon is removed from the pan, then later added to kale, which is briefly wilted to create a delicious green bed on which to serve the risotto.

If you’d rather lighten up this dish, you could use just one slice of bacon and a bit of olive oil. The flavor won’t be as intense, but you’ll still be able to appreciate the taste.

Many risotto recipes also call for heating the broth before adding it to the rice. As long as your broth is at room temperature, this isn’t necessary for this version.

The goat cheese stirred in just before serving lends a wonderful creamy counterpoint to the bacon. The more traditional (and more flavorful) Parmesan cheese would compete too much with the bacon. Grated cheddar also would work.

Excellent – award winner at Hitachi Chili Cookoff