Pea and Ham Risotto with Goats Cheese

Pea and ham risotto, true comfort food heaven, wonderful flavours, and the simplest of old fashioned cooking techniques.

Sweet peas offer the high notes, the ham offers a wonderful meaty salty vibe and the delicious goat’s cheese provides the foundation flavour to build it all on.

Bacon and Pea Risotto

I have waxed lyrical about the combination of core ingredients in this easy pea and ham risotto before.

Pea and ham just work together, whether they be in my pea and ham pasta or a classic pea and ham soup.

Ham and goat’s cheese feature in my peach and goat cheese salad with ham and I have a whole fresh fried goat’s cheese with pea puree.

They are flavours that just work and this recipe wraps them up in a soft and perfectly textured risotto.

Everything from my chicken and bacon risotto to my pea and asparagus risotto are cooked in a pretty traditional way. This pea and ham number is no different.

Don’t worry, it is easy and you can even do it with a glass of wine in hand. In fact, it is the law that you must do it with a glass of plonk in hand!

Frequently Asked Questions

What type of ham should I use?

You should use something local and delicious! It would be easy to reel off a list of “famous” types of ham and bacon that will be imported on mass and vary in quality depending on where you are.

But realistically no matter where you live you will have some glorious local ham or bacon, speak to a butcher, and they will point you in the right direction.

Do I have to use goat’s cheese?

No, not at all, this dish works well with Parmesan or Pecorino Cheese. Do try and find some aged goat’s cheese because the salty acidic combination is genius in this recipe.

Look for something like garrotxa an aged goat gouda or ardsallagh if you can. As with the ham you may find local producers doing interesting things too.

How do I get a perfect creamy risotto?

Cooking a perfect creamy risotto is all about patience!

At the start of the process, you need to stir constantly once the first 2 or three ladles of stock have gone in just give it a good stir every 45-60 seconds.

But be there, and look after the risotto! Take some time, put everything else aside and pour and stir, and if wine is your thing have a sip or two!

Cooking the rice to the perfect texture should take around 25 minutes; temperature is key, you want a slight bubble.

Finally don’t forget to let it sit, this fixes up the final texture and is often overlooked.

Serving Suggestions

A bowl of risotto is glorious comfort food that needs no sides as far as I am concerned, and this foxy pea and ham number is no different.

Having said that I quite often serve risotto with bread, mainly to mop up that wonderful starchy residue from the bow when I am finished.

My wife usually insists on adding garlic bread or cheesy garlic bread… and who am I to complain?

Equipment Used

I only name-check brands of equipment if I think that they make a material difference to a recipe. But if you have any questions feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.

• Stovetop.
• 15cm or 6″ saucepan.
• 28cm or 11″ frying pan with a lid, you can improvise a lid with tin foil if needed.
• Chopping board.
• Kitchen knife.
• Stirring, serving spoons and a ladle.
• Sieve if you need to defrost the peas.
• Weighing scales and or measuring jug, cups and spoons.