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    Rice · Recipe · Venice · Reference page

    Risi e bisi

    risi e bisi

    Venetian rice and peas, cooked like a risotto but left loose and soupy. This version, by Phoebe Wood for Feast magazine, uses carnaroli rice, chicken stock and a splash of white wine, with the peas and butter stirred in off the heat.

    Loose creamy rice and green peas with grated cheese and pepper in a white bowl, drawn in brown ink and watercolor.
    Editorial illustration of the documented recipe; not a photograph of a kitchen-tested result.
    Servings
    4
    Preparation
    15 min
    Cooking
    30 min
    Total
    45 min
    Difficulty
    Easy

    Equipment

    • Saucepan to keep the stock simmering; ladle
    • Heavy-based saucepan for the rice; wooden spoon
    Servings4

    Ingredients

    • Risotto

    • To finish

    Shopping list

    Method

    1. Bring the stock to the boil in a saucepan, then lower the heat and keep it at a gentle simmer.

      Why Hot stock keeps the rice cooking steadily each time a ladleful goes in.

    2. Heat the oil in the heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook the garlic and onion, stirring, for 4 minutes until soft.

      Timer · 4 min4:00

    3. Add the rice and stir for 1 minute to coat the grains. Add the wine and cook for 1 minute until it is absorbed.

      Timer · 2 min2:00

    4. Add the hot stock a ladleful at a time, stirring now and then, waiting until each is absorbed before adding the next. Stop when one ladleful remains and the rice is al dente, about 20 minutes.

      Timer · 20 min20:00

    5. Take the pan off the heat. Stir in the peas, the butter and the last ladleful of stock, and season with salt and pepper. Serve scattered with parmesan.

      Why The last ladle of stock keeps the dish loose and soupy, as risi e bisi should be.

    To drink & serve with

    • Soave

      Editorial suggestion: a white from the Veneto, such as Soave.

    Substitutions

    • Carnaroli → Arborio, as the source allows, or vialone nano.
    • Chicken stock (vegetarian) → Vegetable stock.

    Common mistakes

    • Adding the peas too early: blanched peas only need to warm through, or they turn grey.
    • Cooking until all the stock is gone: the dish should stay soupy, not stiff.

    Storage & reheating

    Best eaten at once. Cool leftover rice within an hour, keep it in the fridge no more than one day and reheat only once, until steaming hot (UK FSA).

    Safety

    Contains milk (butter, parmesan) and sulphites (wine). Many stocks contain celery: check the label.

    Allergens

    Milk · Sulphites · Celery

    Check labels: stock, bacon and sauces can contain further allergens.

    Dietary

    gluten-free

    A dish for St Mark's Day

    SBS Food introduces this recipe, first printed in Feast magazine in April 2014, as a soupy risotto "traditionally offered to the ruler of Venice on St Mark's feast day". The story ties the first spring peas to the feast of the city's patron saint on 25 April. The source gives it as tradition and cites no document.

    [1]

    A risotto left loose

    The method is a classic risotto: soften the onion and garlic, toast the carnaroli for a minute, let the wine evaporate, then add the hot stock a ladleful at a time for about 20 minutes. The difference is at the end. One ladleful of stock is kept back and goes in off the heat with the peas and butter, so the rice stays loose and almost soupy.

    The peas are blanched beforehand and only warmed through in the hot rice, which keeps them green and sweet.

    [1]

    How it connects

    Place

    • origin Venice In preparation

    Rice

    Wine region

    Recipe

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