Smoked Fish Risotto with Bacon and Poached Egg

• Prep Time 10 minutes 
• Cook Time 15 minutes 
• Total Time 25 minutes
• Servings 4
• Calories 377 kcal

Ingredients

• 1 small to medium onion finely chopped
• a little olive oil
• 1 bay leaf optional
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon curry powder medium strength
• 1 cup arborio rice
• 2 cups fish stock
• 280 grams smoked fish uncooked – not smoked salmon, for instance - I used undyed smoked haddock
• 1 handful chopped parsley
• 1/3 cup small sweet frozen peas
• enough milk to poach the fish in
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons crème fraiche or mascarpone cheese
• 1 rasher of bacon per person pan-fried
• a few squeezes of lemon juice
• 1 poached egg per person

Instructions

1. In a large high-sided wok or pan, fry the onion in the olive oil for a few minutes until soft, then add the bay leaf, thyme & curry powder and cook for another minute or so.
2. Add the rice and stir really well, then add the fish stock one ladleful at a time until it’s all used up. If the rice still isn't cooked, add ladles of water until it is.
3. Meanwhile, cook the bacon and keep warm while you poach the fish. Bring the milk to a simmer, then poach the fish in it for a couple of minutes until cooked through. Discard the milk (or save it to make a fish pie!) then flake the fish into the risotto. Add the parsley, peas, butter & crème fraiche and give it all a good stir.
4. Finally, serve out the risotto and top each plate/dish with a squeeze of lemon, a rasher of bacon and a soft poached egg.

Recipe Notes

Slightly adapted from BBC Good food. If you can’t find smoked haddock, any smoked white fish will be fine. Just don’t use anything like smoked salmon – the fish needs to be uncooked when you buy it. If you can’t get hold of crème fraiche to stir in at the end, use mascarpone cheese, or even sour cream or Greek yoghurt. Anything creamy will have a similar effect!