Pea risotto "Mantecare"

A recipe from cooking-ez.com

For 4 people, you will need:

• 1 300 g peas
• 2 1 onion
• 3 2 cloves garlic
• 4 herbs of your choice
• 5 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 350 g rice
• 7 1 glass dry white wine
• 8 1 litre vegetable stock
• 9 2 tablespoons Mascarpone
• 10 100 g Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano)
• 11 salt
• 12 pepper
• Total weight: 2,115 grams

Times:

Preparation	Resting	Cooking	Start to finish
1 hour 15 min.	5 min.	10 min.	1 hour 30 min.

Step by step recipe

• 1: Shell the peas if they are fresh. You should have around 300g of shelled peas.
• 2: Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Tip in the peas and cook them, but only until they are 'al dente'.
• 3: Cool them quickly and leave to drain.
• 4: Prepare 1 onion and chop finely. Peel 2 cloves garlic and chop finely.
• 5: Pour 6 tablespoons olive oil into a large pan on medium heat.
  When hot, add the onion, garlic and herbs, salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. The onion should just colour a little.
• 6: Tip in 350 g rice and stir constantly for 4 or 5 minutes. The rice should be well coated with oil and slightly 'pearled'.
• 7: Pour in 1 glass dry white wine...
• 8: ... and stir until completely absorbed by the rice.
  Remove the herbs and discard.
• 9: Add a little vegetable stock...
• 10: ...and stir until completely absorbed by the rice.
• 11: Repeat this operation, a little at a time, intil all the stock has been used up.
• 12: Stop when the rice is cooked to your taste and still a little moist. A risotto should never be completely dry.
  This whole process is supposed to take 18 minutes, but this will depend on a lot of things (type of rice, intensity of cooking, etc.), and it is best to expect it to take nearer 30 minutes.
• 13: Once the rice is cooked, it is time for the mantecare: tip 2 tablespoons Mascarpone and the grated 100 g Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano) into the pan. Take off the heat, cover and leave to rest for 4 minutes.
• 14: After this time, uncover and mix thoroughly to ensure that the mascarpone and Parmesan are well mixed in.
• 15: To finish, add the peas, mix once more, cover and leave to rest for a further 2 or 3 minutes until the peas have heated through.
• 16: Your risotto is ready.

Remarks

For an authentic Italian touch, try to find `carnaroli' rice if you can.
You can replace the vegetable stock with chicken stock if you prefer (a simple stock cube dissolved in hot water).

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