Pancetta and Broad Bean Risotto

Pancetta and Broad Bean Risotto
Cookbook: Three and Four Ingredient Cookbook by Jenny White and Joanna Farrow

Yay or Nay: Yay! YAY! YAY!This is one of our favourite recipes, it is seriously delish. The pancetta and the broad beans balance each other out perfectly. There is practically no prep for this dish, other than chopping up the pancetta, and its pretty cheap to make.

Substitutions and Comments: No real substitutions this time. We made double the amount since we had our friends Amanda and Ronan to dinner. Usually we use spicy pancetta, but Highland Farms was out this time :( Just a few notes on the ingredients. Pancetta is very similar to bacon. It's kind of like Italian bacon, you can find it at the deli counter at larger grocery stores, but you can substitute bacon if you can't find any. Broad beans are large green beans, they are sometimes called faba beans (different than FAVA beans). You can substitute the beans with a similar kind if you can't find them anywhere, but they are pretty common. We usually used canned beans and rinse and drain them, but you can use frozen or uncooked also. The rice we always recommend for risotto is arborio rice. It is Italian rice that is basically designed for making risotto; it becomes very soft and sticky.

Recipe:

6 oz pancetta
1 3/4 cups risotto rice (arborio)
6 1/4 cups simmering herb stock
2 cans baby broad beans
salt and pepper

1. Place the pancetta in a non-stick or heavy pan and cook gently, stirring occasionally, for about 5 mins, until the fat runs.



Chopped pancetta

2.   Add the risotto rice to the pan and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add a ladleful of the simmering herb stock and cook, stirring constantly, until the liquid has been absorbed. 



Arborio rice





Rice and pancetta in the pot.

3.     Continue adding the simmering herb stock, a ladleful at a time, until rice is tender, and almost all the liquid has been absorbed. This will take 30-35 mins.

Broad beans

1. Meanwhile prepare broad beans. When rice is cooked add beans and season to taste. Mix well. Spoon into a bowl and serve.

   

   Finished risotto!

Stay hungry :D