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06/11/2000 Archived Entry: "Risi e Bisi (Rice and Peas, Venetian-Style)"

I recently struck up an e-mail correspondence with Kyle Phillips, who is the “guide” on a web-site called www.italianfood.about.com, which is part of About.com, what’s called a portal site because it leads you to many sub-sites and other sites. I was curious about About.com because the company has moved into the same building as WOR radio and at the moment the scaffolding around the building is wrapped in an About.com advertising banner. Of course, I found the Italian food section immediately.

But back to Kyle Phillips. He is American, but lives in Florence with his wife and young son. In 1996, he translated Pellegrino Artusi’s “The Art of Eating Well,” a turn-of-the-century cookbook that not only educated the emerging Italian nation about food, but also spread the Italian language at a time when most “Italians” were still speaking regional dialects. It did more than that actually, but this is not meant to be an essay on “Artusi,” as the book is simply called in Italy. Nor it is about Kyle Phillips. All this is an introduction to a recipe that I haven’t made for years, but that Kyle’s About.com Italian food newsletter inspired me to prepare over the weekend.

Kyle wrote: “Got a note from Dana, who writes, ‘I am looking for a recipe that is made with rice, peas, salt pork and chicken broth. I got it from a friend who got it from his Italian father. Unfortunately, I don’t know the name of this dish because my friend always uses his childhood pronunciation of ‘Rizibizi peas. … The recipe I have is a little hard to work with as it was written while listening to his father describe the dish.’

“This is the classic Venetian dish, risi e bisi (rice and peas),” writes Kyle. “In the past, it was prepared only on the feast days decreed by the Doge (Venice’s ruler), though one can now make it anytime.” (Obviously!)

As Kyle points out, it is only worth making risi e bisi (often pronounced risibisi, one word, as Dana says) when fresh peas are available, which is right now. In any case, his version can only be made when fresh peas are available because the liquid in the recipe is a pea broth or, as he calls it “green water” that is made by boiling the pea pods. If you use chicken broth, as Dana said her friend’s father does, than you can make it any time of the year using frozen peas, my favorite frozen vegetable.

On the other hand, making it with the fabulous fresh peas I was able to buy early Saturday morning at the Greenmarket in Brooklyn, and shelling the peas at midday, less than 12 hours after they were picked, the dish is beyond compare.

I must say, Kyle’s outline of the recipe wasn’t very specific. Like Artusi, he assumes you know proportions – like what’s a “handful of rice” Kyle? – so the following are my proportions and detailed instructions. If you follow them, you will end up with a risotto, meaning it will be a dry dish that can be eaten with a fork, and you will probably have a little pea broth left over. However, I have been served soupier versions of risi e bisi by Venetians. Some say it should be soupier than a classic risotto. If you want yours soupier, just add the remaining broth and make it so.

By the way, the risi e bisi was part of a cross-regional menu. Our second course was arista, the Tuscan pork roast flavored with garlic, rosemary and black pepper; with a side dish of Neapolitan-style roasted red peppers in a casserole with capers, garlic, parsley and breadcrumbs (see Naples At Table). For dessert, I went American: strawberry shortcake.

Risi e Bisi
(Venetian Rice and Peas, a risotto)
Serves 6 as a first course

3 1/2 pounds fresh peas (still in their pods)
2 ounces pancetta, chopped very, very fine, almost to a paste
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup finely sliced or minced spring onion (white only)
1 pound Arborio rice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper or to taste
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 to 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus extra for the table

Wash the pea pods well. Shell the peas and reserve the pods. You should have 1 quart shelled peas. Refrigerate them until you are ready to cook them.

Place the pea pods in a large pot and pour in about 3 quarts of cold water. The water will not cover the pods, but submerge about three quarters of them. Bring the water to a rolling boil, tamping the pods down into the water. When the water boils, the pods will wilt and should now be covered with water. Boil for 15 minutes. Let the pea pod broth cool to warm. Drain the pods well, discarding them and reserving the “green water.” Season the water with the teaspoon of salt. (If not preparing the risi e bisi within an hour or so, refrigerate the “green water.”) Before beginning to cook the risi e bisi, place the pea broth over low heat and keep hot, just under the simmer.

In a 4-quart saucepan or deep, stove-top casserole, combine the chopped pancetta and 2 tablespoon of butter. Cook over low to medium heat to render the pancetta fat. Before the pancetta browns, add the rice and cook, stirring constantly, for 3 to 5 minutes, until the rice is opaque.

Add a cup of the hot pea broth and stir into the rice until absorbed. Add just enough broth to barely cover the rice, stir again, and adjust the heat so the broth simmers briskly. Keep stirring in broth about a cup or so at a time for about 10 minutes, at which point the rice should be about half cooked, expanded but still hard.

Add the peas and stir well. Increase heat to high, so the rice comes back to the simmer quickly, then adjust it again so that the rice just simmers briskly.

Continue adding broth about a cup at a time until the rice is cooked al dente – fully expanded, tender, but still slightly firm at the center. At this point the dish should be slightly soupier than you want it to end up. Add a little more broth if necessary.

Stir in the pepper. Stir in the grated cheese. Stir in the extra tablespoon of butter. Taste and correct the salt and pepper as necessary. Remove the pot from the heat and stir again. Let stand a minute or so before serving, unless you are bringing the pot to the table, in which case the time in the pot between the stove and the table is usually sufficient to let the rice settle and absorb any extra liquid. (If you want a soupier dish, add the remaining pea broth at this point.)