Risi e Bisi (Venetian Rice and Peas)

📝 Ingredients

• 300 g arborio rice
• 600 g frozen peas
• 1 brown onion (about 120 g)
• 2 vegetable stock cubes + 1.2 l hot water
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 30 g cold unsalted butter, diced
• 60 g grated Parmesan
• 10 g fresh parsley
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Saucepan
• Sauté pan or large heavy-based saucepan
• Ladle
• Wooden spoon
• Cutting board and knife

📖 Steps

1. Crumble the stock cubes into the hot water in a saucepan and keep this stock at a gentle simmer over a low heat throughout: cold stock would interrupt the cooking of the rice. Peel and finely chop the onion.
2. In a heavy-based sauté pan, heat the olive oil over a medium-low heat and sweat the onion for 5 min, stirring, until translucent, without letting it colour.
3. Add the rice without rinsing it (its starch will make it creamy) and stir for 2 min over a medium heat, until the grains turn translucent at the edges: this is called toasting. Pour in two ladlefuls of stock and stir until almost absorbed.
4. Keep adding the stock a ladleful at a time for 8 min, stirring often and waiting each time until the liquid is almost absorbed. The rice should cook at a gentle simmer, always covered with a thin layer of stock.
5. Add the peas, still frozen, with a big ladleful of stock, then carry on cooking the same way for 8 to 10 min. Taste a grain: it should be tender with a slightly firm centre.
6. Pour in enough stock to make the rice very loose, almost like a thick soup: this is the Venetian texture. Remove from the heat, add the cold butter and the parmesan, then stir briskly for 1 min to make everything creamy and glossy.
7. Cover and leave to rest for 2 min. Chop the parsley and stir it in, then taste before adding salt (the stock and parmesan are already salty) and pepper. Spoon into shallow bowls; the rice thickens quickly, so add a final ladleful of stock if needed.