Recipe
Risi e bisi with pancetta
On the 25th of April, the feast of Saint Mark, the Doge of Venice was served a plate of rice and peas, and this went on for several hundred years.
Risi e bisi was a state occasion dish, which is quietly funny, because it is rice and peas. The first peas of the season came in from the islands of the lagoon, from Sant'Erasmo and Vignole, which grew the city's vegetables, and the entire point was that they were the first: small, sweet, and available for about three weeks. Serving them to the head of state was a way of formally announcing that spring had happened. The Republic collapsed in 1797 and the dish carried on without it, as dishes tend to.
The technical thing to know is that it is not a risotto and a Venetian will correct you on this. It is a minestra, a soup, thicker than a soup and looser than a risotto, and the test is that it should be eaten with a spoon and should move slowly when you tilt the bowl. The word for the consistency is all'onda, like a wave.
Frozen peas are not a compromise here, they are an improvement on anything you can buy fresh outside those three weeks in May. They are frozen within hours of picking, which is a great deal more than can be said for the ones sitting in pods on a supermarket shelf in November.
The pods, if you ever do buy fresh, go into the stock. That is the actual Venetian trick and it costs nothing: simmer the empty pods in the stock for fifteen minutes, strain them out, and use it. The difference is not subtle, and it is the sort of thing that makes people ask what you did.
- Prep 10 min
- Cook 30 min
- Serves 2
- Cost €
Method
- 1
Cook the pancetta in the oil in a heavy pot until the fat runs. Add the onion with a pinch of salt and cook gently until soft and translucent.
10 min
- 2
Add half the peas and a ladleful of stock and simmer 5 minutes, then crush them roughly with a fork. This is what gives the broth its body and its colour.
6 min
- 3
Add the rice and stir for a minute, then pour in most of the remaining stock all at once. This is a soup, not a risotto, so it does not need adding ladle by ladle.
2 min
- 4
Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the rice is tender. Add the rest of the peas for the last 5 minutes.
16 min
- 5
It should be loose enough to move when you tilt the pot. Add more stock or hot water until it does.
1 min
- 6
Off the heat, beat in the butter, the parmigiano and the parsley. Season and rest 2 minutes.
3 min
Variations
Leave out the pancetta and use olive oil for a vegetarian version, which is how it is often made in Lent. Fresh mint instead of parsley. Asparagus tips added at the end, or a handful of broad beans. If you have fresh peas, simmer the empty pods in the stock for 15 minutes and strain. It thickens considerably overnight into something closer to a risotto; loosen with water when you reheat and it comes back.