Pancetta & Pea Orzotto

I love risotto--it doesn't matter what kind of it is. What I don't love is that it' can't be quickly whipped up on a whim. Risotto dictates that you spend some time in front of the stove, just you and the spoon, stirring. I first came across the idea of an orzotto from Nigella Lawson in her Nigellissima cookbook. As a huge orzo fan, I could see straightaway how this idea would work and loved how hands off the whole dish is. This is definitely a under 20 minutes meal.

I often find that my palette seems ... a lot less refined than Nigella's in terms of seasoning, so when following her recipes, I tend to improvise and increase the seasoning quite a bit just to punch up the flavors. I've done so here as well.

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Ingredients:
For the orzotto

1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp parmesan, grated
2 tbsp garlic oil
2 1/2 cups boiling water
200g frozen peas
250g orzo 
300g cubed pancetta
salt and lemon pepper

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All right, let's cook:

Drizzle the oil into a large saucepan and allow to warm. 

Tumble in the pancetta, stirring, until it is crisp and golden. Add the peas and stir until they've thawed.

Pour in the orzo, stir to coat it in the oil and combine with the pancetta and peas. Pour in the water, season with salt and reduce the heat to medium and allow the contents to simmer for about 10 minutes. Remember to stir every now and then to keep everything from sticking. Once the water has absorbed, sprinkle in the parmesan and a forkful or two of butter. Stir to combine before and serve.