Risotto with red pepper, chilli and pancetta
A gorgeous, creamy and spicy winter warmer that goes perfectly with a glass of wine in front of a roaring fire... Leave out the pancetta for a tasty veggie option.
For 4 good sized portions, you will need:
- 400g of carnaroli rice (arborio is fine, but carnaroli is best)
- A litre of chicken stock
- A big knob of butter
- A small glass of dry white wine
- A handful of finely chopped red pepper
- 2 small red chillis, deseeded and finely chopped (leave the seeds in if you like it extra spicy)
- 50g of pancetta or cubed smokey bacon
- A big glug of extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 4 shallots, finely chopped
- A big bunch of fresh flat leaf parsley or basil
- About 50g of freshly grated parmesan
This will take about 40 minutes to make, and it's easier if you do all the prep and chopping first.
- Finely chop the peppers, chilli, garlic, and herbs, and chop the pancetta or bacon (if you're using it) into small cubes
- In a large pot, heat up the stock and keep it simmering. At the same time, take a large pan, heat the oil and then add the chopped shallots and garlic
- Add the rice and stir for about a minute until the rice becomes slightly translucent, then add the wine with a good pinch of salt and keep stirring
- Once the wine has evaporated, throw in the pancetta, red pepper, herbs and chilli
- Give it a good stir and begin to add the stock to the rice, a ladle at a time
- As soon as the rice has almost absorbed the stock, it's time to add another. Keep doing this and gently stirring all the time and massaging the creamy starch from the rice. This will probably take about 20 minutes
- When all of the stock has been absorbed (remember the risotto should be creamy not dry) turn off the heat and stir in the butter and parmesan
- Stir the whole thing well, cover and leave for 5 minutes for the risotto to settle. This is the most important part of the process, where the risotto becomes very creamy and oozy and lovely!
Serve immediately with black pepper.
