Quick And Easy Pea And Ham Risotto Soup

Rich and creamy with melty Parmesan cheese, juicy ham and the freshness of peas and mint. This is the perfect Springtime dish, soup and risotto all in one bowl. What could be better.

Why you’ll love this delicious risotto soup recipe

• There are two things that to me are the perfect comfort food, soup and risotto. Put them together into one bowl of sheer hug-in-a-mug type feelgood food.
• This is a super easy recipe to throw together.
• It’s a great way to use store cupboard ingredients and any leftover ham in the fridge to make something really tasty and special.
• Quick to make – this risotto soup is ready in 30 minutes.

I’m a huge fan of risotto and make it all the time. From delicious chicken and asparagus risotto that just sings of spring to hearty pumpkin and sage risotto that is so comforting for Autumn/fall.

And I don’t just use rice in my risottos, I’ve made squash and orzo risotto traybake and an asparagus and quinoa risotto too.

Ingredients for this pea and ham risotto soup

• Rice – I’ve used Arborio risotto rice.
• Olive oil and butter
• Vegetable, ham or chicken stock. Whichever you have to hand will do nicely.
• Spring onions.
• Pancetta chopped
• Peas (I’ve just used frozen peas here as I always have them in the freezer, come on, everyone does!)
• White wine – why do I always seem to have that hanging around I wonder!
• Parmesan cheese
• Some fresh mint and parsley and salt and pepper

Ingredient substitutions

No ham of any sort? Then use chicken for this simple risotto soup instead. You can also make this totally vegetarian and add some more veggies instead. Asparagus would be my first choice to keep with that springtime vive we’ve got going with the peas.

What type of rice to use for this risotto soup

I have used standard Arborio (risotto rice) for my soup. The reason this rice is so famous for risotto is that it holds more starch than long grain rice.

This means that when it is cooked the starch breaks down to make the risotto really creamy. It works exactly the same way in this risotto soup giving a rich creaminess even though there is no cream in the soup at all.

What type of ham is in this risotto soup

I have used pancetta because that’s what I had in the fridge at the time. However, this is a soup I make on a regular basis and have used leftover gammon, sliced boiled ham and those little bacon lardons too.

Basically, any ham will do!

What type of onions

I have used spring/salad onions to make my soup. I love their lightness of flavour and also the fact that they cook in mere moments.

Feel free to use a standard onion if you don’t have any spring onions for this risotto soup recipe.

Do you need oil or butter?

I use a mix of olive oil and butter in my risotto soup. The oil adds it’s beautiful olive flavour while the butter adds a rich creaminess to the risotto soup.

How to make pea and ham risotto soup

• Heat oil and butter in a soup pan and saute the spring onions along with the pancetta/ham/gammon/lardons or bacon for just a few minutes.
• Add the risotto rice and stir it around so that all the grains of rice get coated in the oil.
• Pour in your stock of choice, give everything a good stir and leave it to simmer for about 10 minutes.
• Now chuck in the peas and cook for a further 10 minutes.
• Add the wine, remaining butter, parmesan cheese and herbs stirring well and leave for just 5 minutes more.
• Season to taste. I leave the seasoning till last as both the ham and the parmesan are salty in their own right.

How much soup does this make?

I got 6 portions of pea and ham risotto soup from this recipe.

Soup storage

Your risotto soup will keep for up to 4 days in the fridge. You can also freeze it for up to 3 months.

Looking for more super easy Springtime soup recipes to try? Then check these out before you go;

Caldo Verde (Portuguese cabbage soup)

Cream of courgette/zucchini soup with feta

Super healthy watercress and spinach soup

Avgolemono (Greek egg and lemon soup)

Low calorie pea and lettuce soup

Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.