Giulina’s Risi e Bisi
Giulina’s name was a misspelling of Giulia by the registrar in charge of recording births in Venice. She has kept the erroneous ’n’ for the fun of it. Before she retired she had a career catering for the primary school children of Venice; apparently her pasta and beans was a favourite. But she is also famous for her risi e bisi, or rice and peas, a dish which is typical of the Veneto region.
She lives in Murano, an island just a short ferry ride from Venice. It is a small, crocheted vegetative blanket of market gardening, laden with produce and struggling to stay afloat in the lagoon. It’s where Giulina sources her organic peas; she thinks organically grown ones are essential because you want to make a stock from the pods. This makes it a seasonal treat!
We spent a jolly afternoon with Giulina and her friends who dropped by, discovering Venetian women are welcoming, earthy, love a good laugh and the chance to celebrate. So we all had a glass of wine and within minutes, it was a risi e bisi impromptu party!
- 30 mins (+ preparing time)
- Easy
- Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 1kg peas in the pods – or alternatively 600g frozen peas
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 4 heaped tablespoons finely chopped parsley
- 320g risotto rice, preferably Vialone Nano, or Carnaroli is great too
- 40g unsalted butter
- 60g grated Parmigiano Reggiano
- Salt
Method
- Shell the peas, and place the pods in a saucepan with plenty of water. Cover, and simmer gently for around an hour until they’re very soft. Or use a pressure cooker to speed up the process. Scoop out the pods and pass them through a food mill, scraping the resulting puree back into the water to create the stock. Season with salt to taste and keep warm in a saucepan over a low heat.
- Note: If you don’t have access to fresh peas and their pods, you can use frozen ones instead. Place 1.2 litres of water with 300g of peas into a saucepan and bring them to a boil with 4g – or two heavy pinches – of salt. Cover the pan and and cook the peas for 8 minutes.
Allow them to cool for a couple of minutes and then purée everything until very smooth. You can do with a food mill as above for best texture, or use a blender. - Soften the onion with a pinch of salt in the olive oil in a sauté pan over a medium heat. This will take around 5- 7 minutes over a medium heat. Add the rice and fresh peas: how many is up to you; it doesn’t have to be all of the ones you shelled. Sauté the mixture for a few minutes until the grains are semi translucent.
- Add half the parsley; keep frying, season with salt, and then start adding in the pea stock 2 large ladlefuls at a time. Add more when the rice starts to dry out.
- You’re aiming for a sloppy risotto. Once the rice is cooked – it should be al dente but not chalky in the middle – take the pan off the heat and stir in the rest of the parsley, the butter and Parmigiano.
- Let it rest for another 3 to 5 minutes; if it thickens up too much, stir in a little more stock.
- Serve with more cheese and black pepper if you like.
- Buon Appetito!
Get to know our Nonnas
- 30 minutes
- Easy
- Serves: 4
