Risi e Bisi

Name: Risi e Bisi (Venetian Rice and Peas)
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 50 g/2 oz/¼ cup unsalted butter; 60 ml/4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil; 1 kg/2¼ lb young fresh peas, in their pods, or 400 g/14 oz frozen petits pois/baby peas, thawed; ½ mild, sweet onion, finely chopped; 2 litres/3½ pints/9 cups beef, veal, vegetable or chicken stock; 25 g/1 oz chopped fresh flat leaf parsley; 300 g/11 oz short grain rice, preferably vialone nano gigante; sea salt and ground black pepper; 100 g/3¾ oz/generous 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra to serve; 50 g/2 oz pancetta, chopped

Venetian Rice and Peas

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Italian Regional Cookbook

By Valentina Harris

Published 2017

About

This is a typical Venetian recipe that is cooked in the old way of making risotto, without frying the rice in fat at the beginning. The end result is more like a very thick soup than a risotto. Not all recipes for rice and peas call for pancetta, but it adds flavour. The choice of rice variety is important, as the rice needs to become very soft while still keeping its shape. Bear in mind that this dish is served much wetter than other risottos, and should have a soupy texture.