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Risi e Bisi ~ Italian Rice with Young Peas

When I picked this dish to present to you as an amazing option for the start of our fresh produce season after a winter of blasé produce (the word blasé being influenced by the French word blaser). I had the hardest time pronouncing “Rise e Bise”. Foreign languages are not my forte. I recognize many foreign words because of my love of cooking but pronouncing some of them is a whole other thing. I titled this article to help any of you who are foreign language challenged like me. And it is a pretty “Easy Peasy” dish to put together!
This is a traditional Venetian dish that brings out the wonders of young spring peas. It has simple ingredients: peas, arborio rice, chicken stock, pancetta, parmesan, and butter. The flavor is enhanced with white wine, onion, and herbs.
This isn’t a risotto, nor is it a soup. You’ll find its consistency somewhere floating between the two. What I found interesting and fun about creating this Italian wonder is they use the pea pods to make a broth (a.k.a. green juice). Those pods could have just gone in the trash. But instead, they’re used to further enhance the flavors of the dish. The flavors combined are bright and fresh, another testament to the spring season.
The green juice does require an extra step – creating a stock out of the peas pod. If you want to skip this step, you can use an equivalent amount of chicken or vegetable stock.
Course Main Dish, Side Dish
Keyword Peas, Risotto

Ingredients

Green Juice

  • 2 pounds Peas in a Pod using just the peas
  • 1 teaspoon Salt

Risi e Bisi

  • 4 tablespoons Butter
  • 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
  • 1 large Shallot chopped
  • 3 ounces Pancetta cubed
  • 2 tablespoons Fresh Parsley chopped
  • 1 tablespoon Mint chopped
  • 1 cup Italian White Wine
  • Shucked Peas
  • 4 cups Chicken Broth
  • 4 ½ cups Green Juice
  • 2 1/3 cup Arborio Rice
  • 1 cup Parmesan Cheese shredded
  • ¾ teaspoon Salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon Pepper

Instructions

Green Juice

  • Shuck the peas from their pods and set the peas to the side. Wash pods under cold water.  Place pods in a saucepan and cover with salted water. Bring to boil and continue boiling for 45 minutes.  Do not drain. 
  • Using an immersion blender or food processor, puree pods. 
  • Return to the stove top and boil for 10 minutes to further reduce the liquid and intensify the flavor.  Place a strainer on top of a bowl.  Strain pods, reserving the juice and disposing of the pod pulp.
  • You should have about 4 ½ cups of green juice.  If you don’t, no worries, you can add additional chicken or vegetable stock.

Risi e Bisi

  • In a large sauté pan with tall edges, heat oil and 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add onion, pancetta, and wine, sautéing for 5 minutes.
  • Add the parsley, mint, peas and 4 cups of chicken broth. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes or until it starts to light boil.
  • Add 2 cups of green juice and salt & pepper and bring to a boil.
  • Lower the temperature and add rice. Cook slowly for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding more green juice to maintain a wet consistency. You want it to be thicker than soup but thinner than risotto. Once rice is cooked, turn off the heat.
  • Add the additional 2 tablespoons of butter and stir to incorporate. Add the parmesan and serve.

Notes

Additional Serving Ideas:
Serve with sautéed or grilled chicken or shrimp.
Reheating
Add enough chicken stock, vegetable stock or green juice (if you have any left) to keep the wet consistency. Reheat slowly in a sauté pan.