broad bean and pancetta risotto
Discover how you can use dairy-free cheese to add full-on flavour in this risotto.
This is a wonderfully earthy recipe, combining the powerfully-savoury tastes of thyme and parsley with the substantial broad beans, and the strong pancetta and dairy-free cheese. If you can get fresh broad beans (in the summer), it's well worth the extra effort of shelling them. But don't worry if you can only get the frozen variety.
preparation time 5 minutes cooking time 20-25 minutes serves 4
contains: yeast
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
250g/heaped 1 cup arborio or other risotto rice
300ml/scant 1¼ cups organic dry white wine
800ml/scant 3½ cups hot, gluten-, yeast- and dairy-free vegetable stock, or vegetable stock made from gluten-, yeast- and dairy-free bouillon powder
1kg broad beans in their pod, shelled, or 450g/2½ cups shelled broad beans
200g pancetta
1 tbsp chopped thyme leaves
1 handful chopped flat-leaf parsley
75g dairy-free cheese, shaved
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 2–3 minutes until just starting to turn golden. Stir in the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds, then lower the heat and stir in the rice until it is well coated in oil.
2 Pour a little of the wine into the mixture and stir. Continue cooking over a low heat, gradually adding and stirring in the wine, until it has all been absorbed. Add a ladle of the hot bouillon and stir until all the liquid has been absorbed. Continue adding and stirring in the hot bouillon for 18–20 minutes until nearly all the liquid has been absorbed.
3 Meanwhile, steam the broad beans in a saucepan of boiling water or a steamer for 5-7 minutes, depending on their size, until they are just tender. Remove from the heat, drain and set to one side.
4 Pour the remaining oil into a heavy-based frying pan and heat over a medium heat until hot. Add the pancetta and fry for 4-6 minutes until just crispy. Remove from the pan and drain on kitchen paper.
5 When the risotto mixture is almost cooked, season lightly with salt and pepper to taste and add the beans and pancetta. Stir in carefully and continue to cook for a further minute until the rice is soft but still has a slight bite and all the liquid has been absorbed. Stir in the thyme and parsley leaves, and sprinkle with the shavings of cheese. Serve immediately.
