A risotto built on spring peas, lemon and mint. Creamy but sharp, not heavy. Smashing some of the peas before they go in gives the rice a green sweetness throughout, instead of just pockets of it. Pick up your peas and lemons at Queen Victoria Market. Home delivery and Click & Collect both available!
Serves 4. Cooking for 2? Just halve the ingredients.
Ingredients
- 1 litre vegetable stock
- 400g podded fresh or frozen peas
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 brown onion, finely diced
- 1 leek, cleaned and thinly sliced into half-moons
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 200g arborio rice
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 40g butter
- 30g parmesan, finely grated, plus extra to serve
- Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- Pinch of chilli flakes (optional)
- Fresh mint, chopped, to serve
Method
- Pour the stock into a saucepan, bring to a simmer, then keep it on the lowest heat. Adding warm stock keeps the rice cooking steadily. Cold stock stalls it every time you ladle it in.
- Zest the lemon before you juice it. Much easier that way round.
- If using frozen peas, thaw them under warm water. Take about two-thirds of the peas and crush them roughly with a fork. Set both lots aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Add the onion and leek with a pinch of salt and the chilli flakes, and cook for 3–4 minutes until softened. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute more.
- Add the rice and stir for about a minute until the grains are coated and translucent at the edges. This toasting step helps them hold their shape instead of collapsing into porridge.
- Pour in the lemon juice and stir until it’s absorbed.
- Add a ladleful of warm stock and stir every 30 seconds or so until it’s absorbed for about 25 minutes. Don’t drown it. Adding stock gradually is what coaxes the starch out and makes it creamy.
- Start tasting at the 20-minute mark. It’s ready when the grains are tender with the faintest bite left in the middle.
- Take off the heat and stir through the whole peas, crushed peas, lemon zest, butter and parmesan until melted and glossy.
- Season, then serve straight away with chopped mint and extra parmesan.
Adapted from Fork in the Kitchen
