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Serving of risotto with bacon & peas with fork

Easy risotto with bacon & peas

By Mary Cadogan
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(224 ratings)
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Prep: 5 mins Cook: 40 mins

Easy

Serves 4

Not for risotto purists - this simple recipe has just a few ingredients and the stock is added all in one go

Nutrition and extra info

  • Healthy

Nutrition: per serving

  • kcal396
  • fat11g
  • saturates4g
  • carbs64g
  • sugars0g
  • fibre3g
  • protein14g
  • salt1.88g
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Ingredients

  • 1 onion
    Onion

    Onion

    un-yun

    Onions are endlessly versatile and an essential ingredient in countless recipes. Native to Asia…

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
    olive oil

    Olive oil

    ol-iv oyl

    Probably the most widely-used oil in cooking, olive oil is pressed from fresh olives. It's…

  • knob of butter
    Butter

    Butter

    butt-err

    Butter is made when lactic-acid producing bacteria are added to cream and churned to make an…

  • 6 rashers streaky bacon, chopped
  • 300g risotto rice
    Risotto rice

    Risotto rice

    To create an authentic creamy Italian risotto, the use of specialist rice is imperative. It…

  • 1l hot vegetable stock
  • 100g frozen peas
  • freshly grated parmesan, to serve
    Parmesan

    Parmesan

    parm-ee-zan

    Parmesan is a straw-coloured hard cheese with a natural yellow rind and rich, fruity flavour. It…

Method

  1. Finely chop 1 onion. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil and a knob of butter in a pan, add the onions and fry until lightly browned (about 7 minutes).

  2. Add 6 chopped rashers streaky bacon and fry for a further 5 minutes, until it starts to crisp.

  3. Add 300g risotto rice and 1l hot vegetable stock, and bring to the boil. Stir well, then reduce the heat and cook, covered, for 15-20 minutes until the rice is almost tender.

  4. Stir in 100g frozen peas, add a little salt and pepper and cook for a further 3 minutes, until the peas are cooked.

  5. Serve sprinkled with freshly grated parmesan and freshly ground black pepper.

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Comments, questions and tips

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FamilyLee's picture
FamilyLee
30th Jan, 2019
Great midweek meal. Such a simple, yet really tasty, risotto. I use homemade chicken stock for maximum flavour, fry the bacon first before the onions, and add a handful of spinach at the end once off the heat.
ssmikey32
10th Jan, 2019
How on earth has this been given "5 minutes" as a prep time when you have to cut bacon and chop onion finely?
AndyTastes's picture
AndyTastes
21st Feb, 2019
is this a joke?
vikkx19
1st Oct, 2018
5.05
Found this recipe years ago and always come back to it, its one of our family favourites now. Its very quick and easy to make and can be easily tweaked to accommodate ingredients you have in. I always use chicken stock for the extra flavour. Usually bung some mushrooms in too. No bacon in the fridge today so will be making prawn and pea instead. Yum..
Glenn Matthews
26th Nov, 2017
4.05
Very nice. I halved the amount to make only two portions and didn't put any onion in and it worked out great. The recipe doesn't need any additional salt added because of the salt in the bacon. As someone who isn't great at cooking, the recipe was still easy. I'll be making this again.
Digroon
12th Nov, 2017
5.05
This is super easy and very tasty. I added some chestnut mushrooms for extra interest. Reheats well for lunch the next day.
theSpaghettiMonster
24th Aug, 2017
Wow! What a great meal. I cooked it for my wife Doris and she cleaned the plate. The bacon was a little soggy but at 91 she doesn't have too many teeth so that suited us well against our fragile gums. Can't wait to try it out with the grand child to celebrate him passing his GCSEs and getting into college!
H D Inglis's picture
H D Inglis
8th Aug, 2017
5.05
This is a longtime favourite of ours! Over many years of making it I've learnt to cook the bacon to almost crispy first, THEN add the onions, to use chicken stock instead of vegetable and to add a knob of butter and stir it through at the very end just before serving. It's perfect. :)
DuckSauce
2nd Aug, 2017
2.05
Fry the onions before the bacon? Have you ever cooked with bacon before or is this your first time? There's nothing more vile than soggy bacon bits. Do the bacon -before- the onions. You infuse the bacon with the flavour-enhancing qualities of onion that way, you absolute savage. It's okay otherwise.
emmey999
16th Jun, 2017
Omg! So good! I had tried it with sweet corn instead of peas as well and it's just as good!

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Ines Ruas Parrington's picture
Ines Ruas Parrington
9th Oct, 2018
is there anything you could use other than bacon? im not a big fan of it...what would you suggest?
goodfoodteam's picture
goodfoodteam
12th Oct, 2018
Thanks for your question. Take a look at our risotto recipe collection for different takes on this dish: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/risotto We hope you find something you like.
Dooberoo
18th Jan, 2017
Is that one liter of broth for the recipe? I will look up the other measurements to get the conversions.
goodfoodteam's picture
goodfoodteam
23rd Jan, 2017
Hi Dooberoo - yes it is!
RebeccaEO
25th Nov, 2016
Loved this recipe, very quick and easy and everyone enjoyed it - perfect for a quick but wholesome mid-week meal. Would recommend using back bacon and cutting the fat off rather than using streaky though, as the fat can go a bit rubbery whilst simmering.
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