I had a craving for rice over the past few days for some reason so with a quick(ish) stop at David Jones Food Hall I picked up some saffron, fish stock and some scallops. I had to make a second stop on the way home to find the fresh peas.

I’ve made saffron risotto a couple of times before but I’ve never been satisfied with the yellowness of the end result. In magazines and on TV it’s always almost fluorescent yellow but today it seemed to come out just about right. I guess I used twice as much saffron as usual and let it steep into the stock before I cooked it into the rice.

Fresh Pea and Saffron Risotto with Scallops cooked with Pancetta

Saffron and Pea Risotto with Pancetta Scallops - Serves 2
2 liters of fish stock (or vegetable)
1 teaspoon of saffron threads
½ white onion, diced
1 Tablespoon of butter
1 cup of arborio rice
½ cup of fresh peas
2 rashers of pancetta (or bacon)
10 scallops (or prawns, lobster etc)

Bring the stock and saffron threads to simmering point. Fry the onion in the butter until it’s translucent and add the rice. Fry until the rice has turned white and one ladle at a time add the stock and stir until the stock has been absorbed. Continue until ¾ of the stock has been used and the rice has begun to soften.

In a separate pan, fry the pancetta until crisp and the fat has rendered, do not discard the fat from the pan. Dice the pancetta and add that along with the peas into the risotto. Continue adding the stock until the risotto is cooked through.

In the same pan as the pancetta was fried, add the scallops and fry for one minute each side or until the surface is caramelized and the flesh has turned opaque.

Pile the risotto on a plate and scatter with the scallops, or if you’re feeling a little wanky, shape the risotto in a ring then arrange the scallops around the edge.

Tags:Vegetables, Scallops, Risotto, Rice, Arborio, Fish Stock, Recipe, Stock, Peas, Pancetta, Saffron