Italian · Venice

Risi e Bisi

Risi e bisi—rice and peas—is Venice's most historically significant dish, a soupy risotto served on April 25th (the Feast of Saint Mark, Venice's patron saint) to the Doge and his court as the ceremonial opening of spring. The dish occupies a unique position between risotto and soup—thinner than risotto but thicker than broth, flowing off the spoon in a consistency the Venetians call 'all'onda' (wavy)—and represents the Venetian approach to rice that differs markedly from the thicker, creamier risottos of Milan and Piedmont. The canonical preparation uses the first tender spring peas (piselli novelli) from the gardens of the lagoon islands, particularly Sant'Erasmo (Venice's 'garden island'). The pea pods themselves are simmered to make a flavourful broth, which becomes the cooking liquid for the rice—nothing is wasted. A soffritto of onion and pancetta (or guanciale) is sweated in butter, the shelled peas are added briefly, then Vialone Nano rice (the Veneto's preferred variety, which absorbs liquid while maintaining a firm centre) is toasted and the pea broth is added in stages. The cooking is faster than a traditional risotto—the consistency should be decidedly soupy, with the rice and peas swimming in a verdant, pea-perfumed broth. The mantecatura with butter and Parmigiano finishes the dish, which should pour from the spoon onto the plate rather than mounding. Fresh flat-leaf parsley is stirred in at the end. The dish is fundamentally about the peas—they must be spring-fresh, sweet, and tender, and their flavour should dominate. Outside of spring pea season, risi e bisi is simply not worth making.

ServesFour portions

Total1 hour 15 minutes

Sourced0of 9 in BC

Cook

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For the pea-pod broth

1 kg

fresh spring peas in pod

pods reserved after shelling

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

1.5 litres

water

Your own market

1 medium

onion

finely chopped

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80 g

pancetta or guanciale

diced

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

60 g

unsalted butter

divided; plus an extra knob for serving

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320 g

Vialone Nano rice

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

60 g

Parmigiano-Reggiano

finely grated

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

1 small handful

fresh flat-leaf parsley

leaves only, roughly chopped

Your own market

to taste

fine sea salt

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The Method

Shell the peas, setting aside the shelled peas and reserving all pods. Place the pods in a saucepan with 1.5 litres of cold water and a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil, reduce to a steady simmer, and cook for 30 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve, pressing the pods firmly to extract all liquid. Discard the pods and keep the broth hot over a low flame. The broth is ready when it carries a clean, green, pea-sweet fragrance.

In a wide, heavy-based pan, melt half the butter over a medium-low heat. Add the pancetta or guanciale and cook gently until the fat has rendered and the meat is softened but not coloured. Add the onion and sweat until completely soft and translucent, 8 to 10 minutes. The soffritto is ready when the onion is yielding and sweet to the touch of a spoon, with no raw resistance.

From the canon — Lay the Sus scrofa domesticus pork belly skin-down. Pancetta — Arrotolata and Stesa Pork Belly Cure →

Add half the shelled peas to the soffritto. Stir once or twice to coat them in the fat, then add the Vialone Nano rice. Toast the rice for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring continuously, until the grains are lightly opaque and give off a faint nutty scent.

Begin adding the hot pea-pod broth, one ladleful at a time, stirring after each addition and allowing most of the liquid to be absorbed before adding the next. This is where the dish lives or dies: the consistency must remain decidedly soupy throughout — all'onda, flowing in waves — never tightening to the mounded texture of a Milanese risotto. If the broth runs short before the rice is cooked, supplement with hot water. Continue for approximately 16 to 18 minutes, until the rice is tender with a firm centre and the mixture pours fluidly off the spoon.

Two minutes before the rice is done, stir in the remaining half of the shelled peas. They require only brief heat to warm through and retain their colour and sweetness. The peas are ready when they are bright green and just tender, with no trace of grey or mushiness.

Remove the pan from the heat. Add the remaining butter and the grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and stir in with a gentle folding motion — the mantecatura. Stir in the chopped flat-leaf parsley. Taste and adjust salt. The finished dish should flow from the spoon onto the plate in a single, slow, continuous pour, spreading rather than mounding.

From the canon — Parmigiano-Reggiano is the most important cheese in Italian cooking and arguably the most technically demanding cheese produced anywhere in the world. Parmigiano-Reggiano — Production and Culinary Use →

III

Quality Hierarchy

Reserve — Piselli novelli from Sant'Erasmo or the Venetian lagoon islands, purchased in pod on the day of cooking; Vialone Nano IGP from Verona or Mantova; aged Parmigiano-Reggiano (24 months minimum); artisan guanciale.

Estate — First-of-season spring peas from a known grower or farmers' market, shelled the morning of cooking; Vialone Nano from a specialist importer; good Parmigiano-Reggiano (18 months); quality pancetta tesa.

Market — Fresh-podded peas from a good greengrocer at the height of spring; Vialone Nano from a specialist food shop; standard Parmigiano-Reggiano; supermarket pancetta.

House — Outside spring pea season, risi e bisi is simply not worth making. No House-rung substitution with frozen peas is sanctioned.

Sensory Tests

◇Smell. The pea-pod broth is ready when it carries a clean, green, pea-sweet fragrance after 30 minutes of simmering.

◇Touch. The soffritto is ready when the onion yields completely under the back of a spoon with no raw resistance.

◇Sight. The rice is correctly cooked when the mixture flows off the spoon in a continuous, soupy wave — all'onda — and spreads flat on the plate.

◇Sight. The final-addition peas are done when they remain bright green and intact, with no greying or collapse.

◇Where it lives or dies. The consistency must remain soupy and all'onda throughout cooking — the dish cannot cross into the thick, mounded texture of risotto.

V · Cross-Cuisine Parallels

French petits pois à la française — peas as the celebrated, season-defining ingredient of a dish built entirely around their freshness. Persian baghali polo — rice cooked with legumes (broad beans or peas), the grain and pulse inseparable in both flavour and identity. English mushy peas — pea as staple rather than luxury, though pointing to the same northern European instinct to centre a dish on the pod.

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