Creamy risotto with fava beans and peas

• 10 minutes to prepare • 25 minutes to cook • Serves 4

 

 

Green taste

A healthy, genuine and tasty green dish: this creamy risotto with peas and fava beans is a real seasonal comfort food that contains all the goodness of these legumes.
A recipe which uses fresh fava beans and peas: the water in which they are boiled is used to make broth, a very simple way to use this waste in an anti-waste perspective.

Just a few ingredients are enough to prepare an original risotto. The fava beans are also used raw, to give crunchiness, as are some of the peas. Another part is blended to create a bright green puree which is placed at the base of the dish. To give an extra twist, candied lemon peel as a final decoration.

The recipe is within everyone's reach: the secret to such a creamy texture? It is not the use of a fresh cheese as in the risotto with peas, but that of using a little broth when creaming.


Here's what you will need for the 4-serving recipe:

 

320 g Carnaroli rice 

200 g fava beans

130 g peas

1 l salted water

100 g grated Pecorino cheese

50 g butter

1 lemon

1 tablespoon sugar

salt and pepper

1. Keep some peas and fava beans aside, raw
2. Pour the water in a large pot and bring to boil. As soon as the water boils, add salt and the peas and fava beans. Let them cook for about 5 minutes
3. Peel the lemon zest, being careful to avoid the white, sour layer. Place it in a pan with water and sugar, and let it boil until it becomes transparent
4. Remove the beans and peas from the heat and drain them, keeping the boiling water aside. Remove the tough outer skins of the fava beans with a knife
5. Melt 20 g of butter in a pan, then add the rice
6. Let the rice toast for 1 minute. Then, add a spoonful of boiling water
7. Cook the rice, as for a normal risotto, adding some boiling water at a time (please refer to the cooking time indicated on the rice package) 
8. Meanwhile, in a blender, pour 2 tablespoons of EVO oil, add the fava beans, and peas. Blend for few seconds until smoothly pureed
9. When the rice is done, take off the heat and stir in Pecorino cheese, and butter
10. Finely slice the candied lemon zest
11. On the bottom of each plate, place one ladle of fava beans'and peas'puree. Top with some creamy risotto, raw fava beans and peas, and finally with candied lemon zest and freshly ground pepper

In the following, Nutrition Facts of this dish are indicated. Data is provided per serving.