Pea and Bacon Risotto
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4
- Category: Dish Type; Lunch; Main Ingredient; Mains; Meals and Courses; Pasta; Vegetables
Description
Simply delicious! This is the kind of Risotto you’d want to make over and over again!
Ingredients
Pea puree
1 Tbsp (15 ml) butter
1 C (250 ml) frozen baby peas
1 C (250 ml) vegetable stock
salt and pepper to taste
250 g streaky bacon
Risotto
1 tsp (5 ml) olive oil
2 Tbsp (30 ml) butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 C (250 ml) arborio rice
3 C (750 ml) hot vegetable stock
1 C (250 ml) thawed frozen peas
3 Tbsp (45 ml) grated Parmesan
freshly milled salt and pepper
extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
¼ C (60 ml) grated Parmesan, for serving
Instructions
Preheat the oven grill and place the rack under the grill element. Pea puree Place the butter, peas and stock into a small pot, cover and cook for 2 minutes. Pop into a food processor and blitz into a smooth pureé. Season to taste. Bacon Place half of the bacon onto a baking tray and grill until crispy on both sides, keeping a watchful eye. Remove the bacon and allow to cool. Meanwhile, dice the remaining bacon and keep to one side. Once the grilled bacon is cool, roughly chop and also keep to one side. Risotto Heat the oil and butter and fry the uncooked bacon cubes until crispy. Then, over a moderate heat, add the onion and cook until soft and fragrant. Add the rice and stir around until well coated in the butter. Still using moderate heat, add the hot stock, one ladle at a time, until all the stock has been absorbed, stirring occasionally. This will take 10–12 minutes. Add the peas and cook for a further 2 minutes. Now add the pea pureé and Parmesan and stir vigorously until well combined. Season to taste. Serve topped with crispy bacon bits, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkling of grated Parmesan.
