Giuliano Hazan

Pea Soup with Pasta

Pasta e Bisi

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Preparation info

  • Difficulty

    Easy

  • Serves

    4

Appears in

Giuliano Hazan's Thirty Minute Pasta

Giuliano Hazan's Thirty Minute Pasta

By Giuliano Hazan

Published 2009

  • About

Risi e Bisi is a classic rice and pea soup that is traditionally prepared in June when the exquisitely sweet peas of Peseggia, north of Venice, are in season. Sometimes it is so thick it is eaten with a fork instead of a spoon. It occurred to me that I could replace the rice with pasta, and thus was born Pasta e Bisi, admittedly my own invention. If fresh peas are in season, it is definitely worth the time to shell them, but I’ve also tried it with frozen peas, with good results.

Ingredients

  • ½ medium yellow onion
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1¾ pound fresh peas (or 12 ounces frozen peas)
  • Salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 large beef bouillon cube
  • 5–6 sprigs flat-leaf Italian parsley
  • 4 ounces dried egg noodles, such as tagliatelle or pappardelle

Method

  1. Peel the onion and finely chop it. Put the butter in a 4- to 6-quart soup pot, add the chopped onion, and place over medium-high heat. Sauté until the onion turns a rich golden color, about 5 minutes.
  2. While the onion is sautéing, shell the peas, if using fresh.
  3. When the onion is ready, add the peas and season with salt and pepper. If using fresh, sauté for about a minute, then add 4 cups of water and the bouillon cube. When the broth comes to a boil, lower the heat to medium and cook, covered, for 20 minutes. If using frozen peas, sauté them for about 5 minutes, then add the water and bouillon cube and cook, covered, for 10 minutes after the broth comes to a boil.
  4. While the soup is simmering, finely chop enough parsley to measure 1½ tablespoons. Break the egg noodles into approximately 1-inch pieces and add them to the soup together with the parsley. Cook, covered, until the pasta is al dente and serve at once.

© 2009 Giuliano Hazan. All rights reserved.