Leek Risotto With Sugar Snap Peas and Pancetta
- Total Time
- 40 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- 1½tablespoons olive oil
- 3ounces thinly sliced pancetta or bacon
- 1quart chicken stock
- 3large leeks, white parts only, split lengthwise, sliced ¼-inch thick and thoroughly washed (about 3 cups)
- 2garlic cloves, smashed
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 1½cups arborio rice
- ½cup dry white wine
- 1tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2ounces grated Pecorino (about ¾ cup), plus more for topping
- 8ounces sugar snap peas, strings removed, snap peas halved lengthwise
- ½cup snipped chives (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
711 calories; 26 grams fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 11 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 87 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 10 grams sugars; 25 grams protein; 1275 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Add ½ tablespoon oil to a large, wide saucepan, and add the pancetta slices. (It’s OK if they’re not in one layer, as they will shrink quite a bit.) Turn heat to medium and cook, turning and rearranging the pancetta until lightly browned, crisp, and the fat has rendered, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer with tongs to a paper towel, leaving the fat in the pan.
- Step 2
Add the stock and 1 cup water to a separate medium saucepan. Transfer the saucepan to a back burner and bring to a simmer over low. Keep warm on the lowest heat.
- Step 3
Add 1 tablespoon oil to the pan that you cooked the pancetta in, and add the leeks, garlic and ½ teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring, over medium-high until wilted and soft, about 5 minutes.
- Step 4
Add the rice and cook, stirring, until grains look slightly translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Add wine and cook until nearly absorbed, about 1 minute.
- Step 5
Add a ladleful of stock to the rice — you want just enough to barely cover the surface of the rice. Cook at a lively simmer, stirring very frequently, until it’s nearly absorbed, 2 to 3 minutes. Continue adding stock in this way until rice is very creamy, but still al dente, 15 to 20 minutes total. You may not need all of the liquid, but you will probably use most of it.
- Step 6
Stir in the butter and cheese, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in the snap peas. Add more of the remaining liquid if needed to loosen (it should be a bit soupy), and divide among four shallow bowls. Crumble the reserved pancetta over top, and sprinkle with chives, if desired.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Myriam
The recipe is really good, but as with every risotto recipe on NY Times Cooking it suggests arborio rice, which I think doesn't go well for risotto, especially not for creamy risotto. The best option for risotto is Carnaroli or Vialone Nano.
Zeus G
PS All this splitting hairs about which rice to use for risotto is too twee for me. For God's sake it's all short grain rice!
Nita
True, true, but it is fun to be a little twee right now.
Lisset
This dish was easy, tasty, and filling! I had about a cup and half of diced butternut squash that I needed to use up, so I threw that in as well. It hid nicely once it cooked down. This risotto was very good, and will join my regular rotation of meals. As a note, I did end up using 5 oz of pancetta since that's what I had on hand, but that just makes it that much better! (I do recommend pancetta over bacon.)
Miransa
Add lemon! Took it from good to great
Walker
Came out great. Blanch the peas in boiling water for 1 minute, then cut in slices (not lengthwise). Keeps them green and crunchy but not as raw. Make extra bacon!
Kate
Half way into prep I realized I didn't have any rice for risotto, so instead ended up making it with farro. The nuttiness of the farro held up really nicely against all the leeks. After this happy accident, I might actually prefer it this way.
C. Simonavice
This seems a little elitist to me... We ARE in the middle of a pandemic. Use what you have or what you can get. Heck, I used sushi rice because the rice and bean aisle at my grocery store still looked like it did at the beginning of the shut down. That is to say, empty. Still turned out great.
jessica in LA
Loved this dish, it deserves 5 stars for the lovely mix of textures. Absolutely perfect in spring! One tip: throw the peas into the risotto for a minute BEFORE you turn the flame off--that flash of heat keeps it from feeling uncooked, and you still have the chives for that just snipped feeling.
FSM
I made it with arborio rice as per the instructions but doubled the pancetta. It was excellent!
Zeus G
You probably won't use all the stock to get the risotto creamy to taste. However, save the liquid for reheating the risotto, adding a little at a time to taste, in a medium heated saucepan, stirring constantly, as before, until liquid is absorbed and it will be almost as good as the original batch. Adding extra cheese at the end wouldn't hurt either.
Cindy
Keeper for sure - the flavour was better using the pancetta than the 2nd try when we used just olive oil and fresh thyme> But, it was too salty. Next time I'd cook the pancetta, use the oil to cook the leeks, but use the pancetta sparsely when serving. Really good! Interested to ready about Carnaroli and Vialone Nano rices - we will try these as well.
Victoria
Added extra half cup of wine, copied someone else's idea of blanching the snap peas and slicing cross-wise, and it was great. Had to add extra garlic and salt for flavor, but you should be tasting as you go anyway.
Cheryl
Yuck! Total waste of time! If you make it, add lots of interesting ingredients.
Heather
This was great. I ended up using all the liquid and had to add about another 1/4 cup to get the correct texture. Delicious and very springy!
Max Alexander, Rome
The argument over rice types is hardly “twee.” It was the subject of a university study here in Italy, which found carnaroli superior in making a creamy risotto. The reason is that the microscopic starch grains in carnaroli are larger than those in arborio, hence more surface area to absorb liquid. At the very least the NYT should say “preferably carnaroli” in its risotto recipes.
lisa
Can this be made vegetarian (no bacon/pancetta)?
ParisPieInTheSky
made it vegetarian byskipping the pancetta and using butter to provide fat. alsi added mushrooms.
dylan olivia
This recipe was amazing! I used all parts of the leek because I don’t believe in just using the white parts. I also doubled the garlic because that’s always what one should do, and substituted organic bacon with the pancetta. The flavor was so strong you could taste the bacon even without adding it at the end. I think I added more cheese than requested. Lower to medium low as soon as you start adding the broth. To get the broth to simmer put it on medium high and then lower to medium. So good!
N Of Seattle
It is a dish that works as written. For me, it was a lot of prep and much time spent stirring in stock. Mine tasted great, and the family gobbled it down. I will use some of the techniques again to make risotto with a variety of flavor combinations.
Shira
Almost perfect as written. I blanched the snap peas, as others mentioned, which makes perfect sense. Delish!
thenatpack
Hmm. I’m not sure about the addition of snap peas. I think the rest of the flavors worked
gabrielle
This was delicious, totally agree with blanching snap peas for 1 minute, makes the texture not as raw! I also added a bit of lemon and it was great!
Charles Furer
This will be a regular meal at our table for the foreseeable future. My wife and two daughters were very quiet while eating, which is always a great sign. I agree with cooking the snap peas a minute or two—an essential improvement. I fried up prosciutto instead of pancetta and wouldn’t do it any other way.
Dori
This was one of the best risottos that I’ve made! I par boiled the snap peas and it was perfect!
Jeangros
Not a bad recipe. Needed a little something, so I threw in some sofrito. Was well enjoyed by all.
kerry
More garlic. More bacon. Cut up snap peas
Sarah
I did this in a pressure cooker (a fast/slow pro). I sauted the leeks and an onion (I wasn’t using pancetta so needed some extra flavour), then threw in arborio and stock with a splash of apple cider vinegar at a ratio of 1:3, gave it a minute or so of stirring then put on low (40kPa) for 7mins with auto quick steam release. Stirred in the cheese and a squeeze of lemon and it was great! Peas went in just after rice which i wouldn’t do again but didn’t go as bad as I thought it would
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