Recipe for risotto with peas and green pesto
My version of a green risotto with peas and scallops.
We are big fans of risotto at our house, and it’s a dish I’ve struggled to perfect. For many years, it always turned out too dense for me.
But after many years of practice, I am very pleased with my version, and it has started to become a kind of “clean out the fridge” or “reduce food waste” dish for me.
In this case, I had a handful of peas left in the freezer and a homemade green pesto made the day before. Since a homemade green pesto typically only lasts 1 week in the refrigerator, I thought of using it in a different way than on a sandwich or pizza, which are the usual ways we use pesto at home.
So that’s how this green risotto was “invented.”
Equipment
- Kitchen Scale
- Deciliter Measure
- Sauté Pan
- Cutting Board
- Chef'S Knife
- dough scraper
- Frying Pan
- Pot
- Grater
Ingredients
- 1 pcs. Onion
- 200 gram Risotto Rice arborio
- 40.5 gram Olive Oil
- 100 gram White Wine
- 1 l Chicken Stock can be substituted with vegetable stock or broth
- 100 gram Parmesan freshly grated
- 10 gram Butter
- 15 gram Lemon Juice
- Salt and Pepper
Sides
- 120 gram Peas I used frozen
- 32 gram Pesto green
- 4 pcs. Scallops
- Broad leaf parsley and/or other herbs
Instructions
- Start by heating a heavy-bottomed sauté pan over medium-high heat (I had it on 9 out of 14 on my stove).
- Finely chop the onion and place it in a large heavy-bottomed pan with the oil and rice.
- Stir well (I typically use a rubber spatula), and the rice should almost become translucent in color, while the onions should not change color.
- In the meantime, you can heat your stock/broth in another pot so that it is warm when added to your risotto.
- Add the white wine to the pan with the rice and possibly turn up the heat a little so that the wine boils off.
- When the liquid is almost boiled away, add a ladleful (possibly a soup ladle) of stock to the rice. Turn the heat back down to medium.
- Continue until the rice is tender. This takes about 25 minutes.
- Prepare your scallops - you can do this either by making pan-seared scallops or sous vide scallops. In either case, take the liquid from your vacuum bag or pan and add it to your risotto - it adds flavor to the whole dish.
- Grate your Parmesan and add it along with the butter to your risotto, stirring continually.
- Next, add the green pesto and the frozen peas and give it 2 more minutes - it’s ready.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- The risotto should be a bit more fluid rather than too firm. It will set slowly afterwards.
- Serve the risotto with chopped parsley and scallops.
- Enjoy.