pea risotto

Easter dinner was an awesome, delicious success. I was determined to make it springy all around and so chose foods that evoke this season in my mind. Lamb seemed an obvious choice, but since I don't cook or eat it often, I let my dad decide how to handle that. He decided that rack of lamb would be fancy and festive enough for such a holiday, and after letting it hang out with some herbes de provence overnight in the fridge, he roasted it in the oven. (It was tasty, but after talking to my favorite cooking friend about her Easter lamb preparation--boned leg of lamb first marinated in yogurt, then roasted with garlic, rosemary and lemon--I was a little disappointed with what we decided. Plus the whole bones-on-my-plate thing wasn't awesome, but I dealt.)

I wanted a gorgeous spring vegetable to be part of the equation, and immediately thought: asparagus! But after hearing my cousin (who would be eating at our house and who has a good foot, and many pounds, on me) proclaim that asparagus is the one food in the world that he absolutely despises, I abandoned that thought. Instead, we made a simple, satisfactory (and super easy to throw together) salad of mixed baby greens, English cucumber and grape tomatoes, all dressed in a basic vinaigrette (balsalmic vinegar, olive oil, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper and minced shallots).

My main contribution to the meal was pea risotto, which I tackled with some trepidation because I had never made it before. The thought of cooking a dish for the first time when I'm feeding other people freaks me out a bit--What if they hate it? What if it all goes horribly wrong?!--and the labor intensity I associate with risotto-making has always given me the impression that the dish is the result of a mysterious, complicated, counterintuitive process. This is the same reason I am daunted by homemade pasta, ice cream, bread and anything that requires a candy thermometer.

I found a Nigella Lawson recipe that looked good, and I asked several trusted cooking friends for input and tips to steer me away from disaster. But other than making WAY too much for a group of eight, it was an utter success. I kept my stock hot, I didn't skimp on butter, I stirred until my arm felt like I would fall off. Everyone was pleased, except for my sister who doesn't like peas (but who was a trooper and sampled it anyways). I asked her ahead of time if she thought she'd like it, and she said it sounded good, but she still couldn't get past the pea-y-ness of it.

Sadly I don't have photo documentation of the meal. Chatting with family + keeping everyone's glass full + synchronizing every part of the meal to be ready at once = I didn't have time to screw around with my camera.

Pea risotto
Adapted from How to Eat by Nigella Lawson (Wiley, 2002)
Time: 40-50 minutes, depending on how slow you are
Serves 2 (I quadrupled it to feed 8 as a side and probably still have half of it left over)

4 Tbsp. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 c. frozen young peas, thawed or not
4 c. stock, hot (Nigella says anything light is good, such as chicken, veal or veggie stock)
4 Tbsp. freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra at the table
Freshly ground black pepper
Whole nutmeg
A drop of oil (evidently this is nothing to sniff at; omit, and the butter will burn)
2 shallots or 1 small onion, minced
1 c. arborio or Canaroli rice
1/3 c. white wine or vermouth
Kosher salt and more black pepper to taste
Chopped fresh parsley for garnish

1. Melt 1 Tbsp. butter in a medium saucepan. Add peas and cook, stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes. Remove half the peas and reserve for later.

2. To the peas remaining in the pan, add a ladleful of stock. Cover and cook gently about 5 minutes, until peas are soft. Add 1 Tbsp. Parmesan, another 1 Tbsp. butter, some grinds of black pepper and a grating of nutmeg. Puree all these things together and reserve for later. (Note: I did these first two steps the night before and stored the whole and the pureed peas in the fridge overnight.)

3. Melt 1 Tbsp. butter and the oil in a large saucepan or small-to-medium stockpot. Cook shallots about 4 minutes, then add rice and "stir till every grain glistens with the oniony fat" (direct quote from Nigella; pretty much sums up why I love her; not to be omitted or paraphrased).

4. Add wine and let it bubble away and absorb. If it's not bubbling, raise the heat and cook until it does bubble away and absorb.

5. Add a ladle of hot stock and stir, constantly or nearly constantly, until absorbed. Continue doing this for 10 minutes.

6. Add the whole peas to the rice, and continue with the stock/stir method for another 8 minutes. At this point, check for doneness: the rice should be cooked, just a smidge al dente, and the risotto should be creamy. You may have leftover stock, or you may run out and need to continue with hot water.

7. When risotto is done, add pea puree and beat it well into risotto. Taste, add salt and pepper to taste, then beat in remaining butter and Parmesan. Garnish with parsley, and serve hot with more Parmesan at the table.


Off to make dinner! I'm having . . . leftover risotto.