Somehow risotto has flitted on and off our weekly dinner menu for months now. But this Saturday, I devised a new recipe for our repertoire: Fennel-Onion Risotto with Green Pea Puree.
We love fennel—it’s in our favorite pot pie; we make a fennel confit, and we like it sauteed with sweet onions as a side dish. This love carried over naturally to our favorite risotto recipe, giving it a subtle anise scent and flavor, which you could intensify with fennel seed if you were so compelled.
I wanted to round out the meal without having to go to the grocery store, hence the green pea puree, which was born from a bag in our freezer. This puree is really delicious on its own (I ate leftovers cold, straight from the fridge). But paired with the risotto, it presented a zippy cure to the palate fatigue that can accompany a main-course risotto.
This is an unabashedly spring-inspired meal (my apologies to the hard-core locavores). So you can either make this now and cheat of summer, or bookmark the recipe and wait seven or eight months to give it a try. Either way, you’ll enjoy it.
Fennel-Onion Risotto with Green Pea Puree
6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1/3 cup dry white wine
1/2 medium fennel bulb, plus stalks and fronds
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup diced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups carnaroli or arborio rice
1 cup grated parmesan
3 tablespoons butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Green pea puree (recipe follows)
Instructions
Bring stock and wine to a near boil, and turn heat to low. Trim stalks and fronds from fennel bulb, and add the stalks to the broth, simmering for at least 15 minutes. Finely chop 1/4 cup of the fronds, and reserve for the end of the risotto’s preparation. Dice 1/2 of fennel bulb (about 1 cup).
Heat olive oil in a wide, 4- to 6-quart pot over medium, add onion, diced fennel, and garlic, and cook 8 to 10 minutes, until vegetables soften. Add rice to the pot and toast for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir the rice as it toasts, and don’t stop stirring until the risotto is ready to hit the table. Now, add 1/2 cup stock mixture at a time (avoiding the fennel stalks), pouring in the next 1/2 cup only after all of liquid has been absorbed by the rice. (Don’t forget to keep stirring.) Depending on how salty your stock is, I usually add 1 teaspoon kosher salt once 2 cups of stock have been added, so the rice has plenty of time to absorb the flavor.
Once all of the liquid has been added, the grains should be al dente and the dish creamy (don’t let all of the liquid from you last pour get absorbed). Stir in the parmesan, butter, and fennel fronds. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Plate risotto, and in the center of each pile, make an indention about the size of a medium plum. Fill each indention with 1/4 cup pea puree, and serve.
Serves 4 (as a main course) or 6 (side-dish servings)
Green Pea Puree
2 cups frozen green peas
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 tablespoons chopped chives or scallions
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Bring a small pot of salty water to a boil, add peas and cook 4 to 5 minutes, until tender. Drain, and shock peas in ice water. (This step can be done hours in advance.)
Dry out the pot, and return to stove on medium-low heat. Heat olive oil, and add garlic and chives. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn down heat if necessary; just don’t let garlic burn. Add peas back to the pot, and cook until heated through.
Transfer pea mixture to a food processor along with the butter and lemon juice. Pulse until mixture is creamy. Add a tablespoon of broth or water if pea puree is too thick, and pulse again. Season with salt and pepper.
Makes about 1 cup