← Nouns Cooking · Italian

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg fresh peas in the pod (or 400 g frozen petits pois)
• 1.5 l light vegetable stock
• 1 Onion, finely chopped
• 50 g Pancetta or guanciale, finely diced (optional)
• 40 g butter, divided
• 1 tbsp Olive oil
• 250 g Vialone Nano or arborio rice
• 2 tbsp Parsley, chopped
• 50 g Parmesan, grated
• Salt

Method

1. Shell the peas. Rinse the pods, put them in a pot with the stock and simmer for 30 min. Blend the pods into the stock, then press through a sieve, discarding the fibres. Keep the green broth hot.
2. In a wide, heavy pan, melt half the butter with the oil over medium-low heat. Soften the onion (and pancetta, if using) for 6–8 min.
3. Add the peas and stir for 2 min, then add the rice and toast it for 1 minute.
4. Add two ladles of hot broth and simmer, stirring often, adding more broth as it is absorbed, for 16–18 min, until the rice is tender. Keep it loose: it should be soupy enough to eat with a spoon.
5. Take off the heat and stir in the rest of the butter, the Parmesan and parsley. Rest for 1 minute and serve.

Tips

• With frozen peas, skip the pod broth and just use good stock; add the peas with the rice.
• Leave out the pancetta and use vegetable stock for a vegetarian version.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Great Italian Chefs GialloZafferano Memorie di Angelina