Sunday, October 28, 2007

Easy Risi e Bisi


I went out walking today, and the wind had a bite to it. It hasn't been this chilly yet this autumn. It was kind of unexpected - I guess I should watch the news more - so I came home craving comfort. I've fallen in love with soups again. I know that they are as low-fat or low-calorie as I need them to be, and I always have frozen vegetables or canned beans lying around that I could whip up into a tasty and hearty soup.

I decided to take some inspiration from Nigella Express, which has some great soup recipes in it. On the page where we find Minestrone in Minutes, Nigella describes an even easier version of the already super simple Risi e Bisi, the Venetian soupy pea risotto. I would say Nigella's Easy Risi e Bisi is a combo of her Rise e Bisi from Forever Summer and her mega-flavored Slime Soup from Feast.

For this doddle of a soup, you simmer some frozen peas, crumbled cheese (I used parmesan) and arborio rice in a liter of vegetable or chicken stock. After twenty minutes, you have a thick and gloriously creamy soup. I think the amounts Nigella uses for the peas and rice is too much, and makes a way too thick soup, so I lowered the quantities a bit. I would say go for about 70 grams of peas and 50-75 grams of rice. One ounce of parmesan is just the ticket. I loved this soup! Eating it was like putting on a warm blanket. I can't wait to make this again!

2 comments:

Kelly-Jane said...

It looks like a nice warm comforting soup. Mmmm.

Rosiecat24 said...

Ooh, Ilana, that looks delish! I absolutely love soup and make it every week. It's such a great dish, especially for everyday eating, whether you are dieting or just trying to eat well.

It sounds like you are a big fan of Nigella Express. Is it worth buying? Is that a silly question to ask? :-) I have too many cookbooks already!