San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
A VIBRANT PEA RISOTTO TO CELEBRATE EASTER AND WELCOME SPRING
This simple, specialoccasion recipe uses fresh peas and a trick from chef Thomas McNaughton
I learned to make risotto by watching television.
I was 20 years old, living in my first apartment, and my cooking repertoire consisted primarily of Shake ‘n’ Bake chicken and cheese ravioli with jarred marinara. But I’d had the extraordinary privilege of growing up with a parent who was an excellent cook, and so I knew there was more out there.
I must have read about risotto in one of my mother’s cookbooks or food magazines; I’d certainly never eaten it. But it took on a sort of mythical status in my mind — I could imagine just how that bowl of creamy rice, rich with butter and Parmigiano cheese, would taste. I also imagined it was impossibly difficult to make.
But then Lidia Bastianich appeared on PBS, and I watched her make risotto. It turned out the only technique was stirring, something I felt fairly certain I could manage. So I went to the specialty grocer and I bought my arborio rice and my Parmigiano and I came home and did what Lidia said, and I made my first risotto. It lived up to the hype.
Now I make risotto often. Over the years I’ve come to realize it’s even less fussy than I first thought, a dish that’s fast enough to make on a weeknight but special enough for a celebratory meal. This year, for Easter, I’ll serve this sweet pea risotto alongside slices of ham instead of the traditional scalloped potato side dish.
In the past, I simply shelled fresh peas and added them to the risotto in the last few minutes of cooking, a Venetian variation on risotto known as risi e bisi. But a few years ago a recipe in Thomas McNaughton’s cookbook, “Flour + Water: Pasta,” suggested another possibility. His recipe for a pasta with prosciutto and pea puree is a showstopper — vibrant and lush, electric green in color.
I borrowed the pea puree idea from McNaughton and added it to risotto. The puree — made with peas and pea shoots that are blanched and then whizzed in the blender with some stock and a touch of cream until smooth — adds the deepest, truest pea flavor to the risotto, as well as the most springy color. And while fresh peas at their peak are a special treat, frozen peas are absolutely fine to use, too. I skip the prosciutto, though you could crisp some up and add it, or some cooked pancetta, as a salty garnish.
I’ve found that there’s not a tremendous difference between the two types of rice, arborio and carnaroli, typically recommended for risotto. Both work beautifully, the grains giving up their starch as they slowly absorb the stock, becoming tender and toothsome but not mushy. But there is a huge difference between true ParmigianoReggiano that you buy in a chunk and grate yourself and the pregrated stuff, and so I implore you to seek out the real deal for this recipe.
When it comes to the cooking, there aren’t any tricks. Keep the mixture at a low simmer, add stock whenever the rice begins to look dry, and stir. In the time it takes you to watch one episode of a cooking show on PBS, you’ll have a pot of creamy, verdant risotto, a triumph whether it’s your first time making it or your 20th, whether for a weeknight or a holiday feast.
This year, for Easter, I’ll serve this sweet pea risotto alongside slices of ham.