Pea & lemon risotto with parmeggian tuiles

Ingredients     2 lemons (juice and zest), 100g peas, 1 pint vegetable stock, 1 cup risotto rice, leek, butter, parmigiano, peashoots to garnish,

Serves: 2 Preparation: 25 minutes


All risottos (no matter what the ingredients) can be made in 3 simple stages. The first is called tostatura - coating the rice in fat, the second involves cooking off some alcohol and the third involves releasing the starch from the rice one ladle of stock at a time. My only possible complaint about this fresh, summery risotto is that the damn lemons bleach the colour of the peas! That's it - this is a wonderful dish that I can return to time and time again. Parmeggian tuiles are a great way to introduce a savoury note and despite being the easiest thing to make in the world, they always seem to impress!


1) To make the parmeggian tuiles, spoon a fine layer of grated parmeggian onto a baking tray lined with baking parchment, using a circular stencil. Bake for 5 minutes until a golden biscuit has formed, then as they begin to cool, peel away the baking parchment from underneath.


2) Slice the leek and sautee in a little butteruntil soft. Add the risotto rice and stir until the rice becomes transparent, revealing a white dot in the centre and pour in the juice of 1 lemon.
3) Once the lemon cooks off, add the first ladle of stock and half of the lemon zest and stir through.

4) Continue adding the stock to the risotto, one ladle at a time, adding the peas with the second to last ladle of stock.

5) Serve garnished with lemon zest, peashoots and the tuiles.