Our wedding was originally meant to have happened on April 25th 2020 but alas COVID. We had designed a menu that included many of our favourite dishes and for the vegetarian option our caterer suggested a pea risotto which neither of us had had before. We were absolutely blown away by it and have been obsessed with his method of risotto making ever since. The process involves making a puree with the base flavour you want for the risotto and then folding it into the cooked arborio. The result is a silky smooth risotto thats packed with much more flavour than you get by cooking the peas with the arborio.
Time: 45 Minutes
Serves: 2 (with leftovers)
Difficulty: Moderate
Ingredients
Pea Puree
2 Cups Frozen Peas
1 Clove Garlic
50g Fresh Parsley
25g Butter
50ml Cream/Yogurt
Juice of half a lemon
Salt & Pepper
Risotto
1 Cup Arborio Rice
1 Onion
Half a Celery Stalk
3 Cloves Garlic
1 Cup White Wine
1.5L Stock
Optional Toppings
100g Parmesan
250g Mushrooms
olive oil
Method
Start by making the pea puree: add the peas, garlic clove and 10g of parsely to a pot of salted boiling water. Cook for 5 minutes before draining the pot and adding the peas to a blender with 20g parsely, butter, cream/yogurt and lemon juice and blend until smooth. Season to taste. Optional: Pass through a sieve for a very smooth puree.
For the risotto finely chop onion and celery and add to a pan with a good amount of olive oil. Fry for 1 minute before adding garlic.
Once the garlic is fragrant add a cup of Arborio and cook for 2 minutes before deglazing with white wine. Stir continuously and add the stock a cup at a time until the risotto is cooked.
Add the pea puree to the risotto and fold in well before grating over 75g parmesan and covering with the heat off for 2 minutes.
Slice the mushrooms and fry with a small amount of olive oil until golden brown. Season well and sprinkle with chopped parsley.
To serve put the risotto in a bowl and top with the mushrooms before adding extra parmesan and parsley.
Happy Cooking!
x
