Pancetta comes in several forms, lardons or rashers, smoked or unsmoked, and this recipe is best with the smoked rasher variety.
Soak a few dried porcini mushrooms, cut into small pieces, in a little warm water for 30 minutes. Cut the pancetta rashers into
2-3 cm lengths and fry in a little olive oil. When browned and crisp, remove and set aside. Add sliced button mushrooms to the pan
and fry until golden. Remove and put with the pancetta. Now fry a chopped banana shallot for a few minutes, then add a cup of spelt,
(for two servings) stirring this to coat all the grains in the fat. Add a small glass of dry white wine (or dry white vermouth)
and simmer until nearly reduced, then add a cup of hot chicken stock and the soaked porcini mushrooms, together with the juices.
Cover and simmer gently for about 20 minutes, adding more stock as required, until the spelt is nearly cooked. Meanwhile, parcook
some mangetout peas, cut into half, for about 5 minutes. Drain and add these to the risotto after the 20 minutes, together with
the cooked pancetta and mushrooms. Add in a handful of baby spinach leaves, stirring until the spinach just starts to wilt and
everything is piping hot. Serve garnished with freshly grated parmesan.