Pasta Risotto with Peas and Pancetta

Many years ago, I wrote a recipe (never published in book form) for what I then styled “trompe l’oeil risotto”, using rice-shaped pasta, called variously orzo, risoni, semi de melone or puntarelle. The version here is markedly altered, not least because rather than cooking the pasta and then dressing it in a creamy sauce so that it looks like risotto, here I actually cook the pasta much as I would if I were making a traditional risotto. But there are differences and they are all helpful ones. That you use less water to pasta than you would with rice probably doesn’t interest you enormously. That you don’t have to stir constantly and that the pasta takes only 10 minutes to cook are obvious benefits to the harried midweek cook.

You should also know that much as Italy respects its traditions, this way of cooking pasta – pasta risottata – is actually quite the new, cool thing, “sciccoso” as the recently coined Italian word (pronounced “chic-oso”), has it. When I’ve come across this way of cooking pasta in Italy, it’s not in fact involved orzo or other rice-shaped pasta; the “risottata” part refers to the method, not the pasta or the end result. Pennette or macaroni or other similarly small pasta would also work, though cooking times may vary a little. But I love the rice-shaped pasta here most of all: the orzo oozes its starchiness out into the sauce rather than being flushed down the sink via the colander and – what’s more – you need only the one pan. I advise that the pan be heavy-based: a small enamelled cast-iron casserole would be perfect although often as not I use a thick-bottomed saucepan.

Many Italian recipes don’t specify amounts of water, merely instructing you to cover the pasta, just. I feel it’s easier to begin with an idea of how much water you’ll need, but please regard this as a starting point only: you may need to add more if the pasta’s absorbed all the water before it’s cooked.