Risi e Bisi – Rice and Peas
April 25 is the Feast Day for the patron saint of Venice, St. Mark. As a forward to the recipe, Marcella mentions how this soup was enjoyed on this day of celebration. The anniversary of the 1945 fall of Mussolini’s Italian Social Republic, Italy’s Liberation, falls on the same day.
I will admit I was not excited to make this recipe. I do not like peas. My lack of enthusiasm worsened as I began to shell the peas. Shelling peas is absolutely my least favorite culinary activity. Well enough about me. Let’s talk about this soup, Rice and Peas. I followed the recipe carefully. This simple soup is a combination of fresh young peas, butter, onion, Arborio rice, and homemade beef broth. I tried hard to stir up some excitement as I stirred the pot. The smell that perfumed the air as it simmered helped a great deal. The soup was ready in about 30 minutes. A little parmigiano-reggiano cheese was mixed in before ladling up a bowl for lunch.
I liked it. Yes, I could taste the peas. But the wonderful undertone of the broth with the slight saltiness of the cheese and chewiness of the rice made it worth eating.
Rice and Peas Soup
©2010 Irene D. Ericson
Rice and pea soup was one of my favorites from my grandmother when I was a kid. Nice memory.
Of course, she was English/French/Cherokee – not Italian. So her soup was in chicken stock. The rice was long grain. And there wasn’t any cheese….:grin:
It would be hard to find an Italian who would not rate sweet, fresh, young peas as one of the greatest delicacies. You can imagine my surprise when I found that many Americans don’t feel the same way, and that most people here are not even acquainted with the taste of good peas shelled from the pods. A famous British chef, Fergus Henderson, visited me recently and on the menu he brought me to see I found “peas in the pod” as an appetizer, simple raw peas eaten from the pod. Which I used to do to my mother’s frustration, gobbling up the peas in the kitchen before she had a chance to cook them. The other day at Whole Foods the check out cashier didn’t even know what they were: “Peas? What do you do with them?” Ahh!
Marcella, I also had the job of shelling peas as a child. There is nothing quite so satisfying as that little cracking sound as your thumbnail first pierces the seam in the pod, don’t you think?
I used to sneak as many pods as possible(the ones that were especially tender) into my apron pocket when my grandmother wasn’t looking. Then I would eat them raw -pod and all- as a snack.