Risi E Bisi Recipes

RISI E BISI -- ITALIAN STYLE RICE AND PEAS

Steps:

• Place chicken stock in a small pot and warm over low heat.
• Heat a medium sized skillet over medium heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil 2 turns of the pan, and garlic. Saute garlic 1 minute, then add Arborio. Toast the Arborio rice 2 minutes, then ladle in 1/3 of the stock. Bring to a bubble. Stir rice occasionally, allowing the rice to get starchy and the stock to cook into the rice. Add more stock when rice starts to become dry. Continue stirring and ladling broth until rice is al dente, 22 minutes. Stir in peas and cheese and season with salt and pepper, to your taste. Serve immediately.

RISI E BISI

Steps:

• Heat broth in a small pot on the back burner over medium-low.
• Set a wide, shallow, long-handled pan over medium-low. Melt 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil until butter foams. Set the remaining 1 tablespoon butter back in the fridge to keep cold.
• Add scallions, season with a pinch of salt and stir until sweated and soft, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Add zucchini coins, season with a pinch of salt, and stir until they start to sweat, begin to soften and become a little translucent, about 2 minutes.
• Push vegetables out to the edge of the pan in a ring, leaving an empty space in the center. Adjust heat - a tad hotter - then add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, then rice. Stir rice until coated and glistening, and keep stirring until it begins sizzling slightly.
• Microplane the garlic over the sizzling rice, then draw the vegetables into the rice as well, stirring well to combine, leaving a little space - a moatlike ring - along the edges where the vegetables were.
• Add the peas to the empty outer space you just created. Run your spoon through them, keeping them in their outer ring, coating them in the oil and moisture. Season the whole business with another pinch of salt.
• Ladle a generous cup of hot broth over the rice mixture in the center, seasoning with salt at each addition of broth, and stirring as the liquid is absorbed. Add another generous cupful of broth, stirring the rice while it absorbs. Repeat once more with a third cup of hot broth, stirring until the rice starts to show signs of its signature starchy and creamy nature. Keep the peas at the outer edge as much as possible. (This might remind you of making homemade pasta, when you are whisking the eggs in the well of the flour and very slowly drawing in the flour.) This entire step should take about 20 minutes. Adjust the heat slightly along the way for a very gentle, hot steaming - not hard simmering - stirring all the while.
• Add the remaining broth all at once. The peas and vegetables will slightly float on the surface, while the rice will naturally remain submerged. Stir gently or shake and swirl the pan in the classic cresting, swelling wave style, all'onde, bringing everything together - rice, zucchini, peas, broth - about 7 more minutes, maybe 10 at most.
• Turn off heat. Season assertively with black pepper. Stir or swirl in the remaining chilled butter, and finish with the grated cheese. Serve hot.

RISI E BISI, ITALIAN RICE AND PEAS

Steps:

• Sauté shallots: Heat the olive oil in a medium-sized pot over medium-high heat. When it is hot, add the shallots and stir to combine. Let these sauté for 2-3 minutes.
• Heat stock and water: Meanwhile, heat up the stock and 1 cup of water in a small pot. You want this at a simmer while you make the rice.
• Add garlic and prosciutto to shallots: Add the garlic and the diced prosciutto to the pot with the shallots, stir well and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
• Add rice: Pour in the rice, stir again and sauté for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly.
• Slowly ladle in stock: Ladle some of the hot stock into the pot and start stirring. Risi e bisi is cooked like risotto, and is supposed to be pretty soupy, so you need a lot of water and you need to stir it constantly. Let this first ladle of stock cook down before you add the next. Keep adding stock, letting it cook down and stirring until you're done with the simmering stock. It is likely that you may need at least one more cup of water to finish the dish, because all that stirring in an open pot means you evaporate more liquid than you would when you cook rice the normal way, i.e., covered. If you think you are going to need more water, add more to the simmering stock.
• When you get to this last cup of water, add the peas: Keep stirring until the water has almost cooked away. Taste some rice and test for salt and doneness: Add a little salt and some more hot tap water if the rice is still crunchy - you want the rice to be a little al dente, but not so much you're gnawing on raw grain.
• Add the parsley and the parmesan and mix well: Your finished rice should be slightly soupy, so it's OK to add a tad more water before serving. Links: Risi e Bisi with Baked Prosciutto Chips - from Sippity Sup Rice and Peas Salad - from The Nourishing Gourmet

RISI E BISI

Steps:

• Bring stock to a simmer in a small saucepan. Cover and keep warm. Melt 2 tablespoons butter with 1 tablespoon oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until soft (do not brown), about 5 minutes. Add pancetta and cook until light brown, about 3 minutes. Add rice and cook, stirring until coated, about 1 minute. Add 1 cup stock. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until stock is almost absorbed, about 1 minute. Continue adding stock by the cupful in 5 more additions, stirring constantly and allowing stock to be absorbed between additions, until rice is almost tender. Add peas and remaining cup of stock and cook, stirring constantly, until the rice is creamy and tender but still firm to the bite, about 22 minutes total. Stir in 1/4 cup hot water if rice seems dry.
• Remove pan from heat. Stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon butter, 1 tablespoon oil, Parmesan, and parsley. Season rice and peas with salt and pepper. Transfer to serving bowls or plates, and serve.