Orzo risotto

The older of my two brothers has always had an interesting relationship with food. As a kid, pasta featured heavily in his diet and none more so than what we refer to as 'pasta rice'. Of course I mean orzo pasta but I only learned that much later in life. In our house, it will always be known as pasta rice! We ate this a lot. Plain. As in no sauce, just cooked pasta. It's not bad however, it is greatly improved when other ingredients are included with it in a dish. You can only imagine my delight when Highella Lawson introduced me to orzo risotto! Her recipe is with pancetta and peas and as many of my trusty followers don't have access to the BBC, here it is:

Pea & Pancetta Pasta Risotto
Recipe by Ni (High)gella Lawson

Olive oil
50g pancetta (or bacon)
½ cup frozen peas (I also added in a bunch of chopped asparagus, just because I had it)
1¼ cups risoni pasta (orzo)
2½ cups boiling water
pinch salt
knob of butter
handful of freshly grated parmesan cheese

Heat a swig of olive oil in a saucepan. Add the pancetta and cook until crisp. Toss in the peas and asparagus and mix it all around. Now add the pasta and stir. Pour in the boiling water along with a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer until all the liquid is absorbed, give it a stir every now and then, this should only take about 5-7 minutes (rubbish - takes about 15 mins).  Test a few pieces to see if it’s ready and if not, pour in a little more water and cook for a couple of minutes. Stir through a knob of butter and a handful of freshly grated parmesan cheese. Serves 2-3.

I made her pea and pancetta one and it was lovely. The cooking time is so much quicker than usual risotto rice and it gives a lovely creamy finish. I also made it with leek and mushroom (I used brown mushrooms) which was also a fabulous combo.

In other news:

• 2 weeks of Lambeth left and then a break for Christmas and then off to Kingston
• I have not yet dented the Christmas shopping
• EEROD still doesn't sleep and we have a sleep consultant coming to help (will keep you posted on success or not)
• We are in the process of choosing a school for LOD who is almost 4.
• I have been doing some sewing of late and below are some pics of the outputs. The Pirate Princess was a copy from Jake and the Neverland Pirates and I have included a pic for comparison purposes. I am working on a pink princess dress for LOD for her birthday and it's coming along well. Pics to follow.....