The From Scratch Era v.2: Minted Mushy Pea & Braised Leek Risotto

After my diagnosis with celiac disease, Daniel and I made a decision to dive headfirst into celebrating all the beautiful, healthful and delicious foods that I could eat, instead of focusing on the negative and dwelling on the foods that were now off limits. We made a concerted effort to expand our culinary horizons and began researching “new” dishes that were celiac friendly but that we had never tried before. Forcing myself to step outside the confines of our gluten-centric, North American cuisine, I discovered a whole world of choices and flavours that I had never even imagined existed.

As a team, Daniel and I started experimenting with new grains, new spices and new cooking techniques. We started making Thai-style rice dishes, whizzing up spicy, green curry pastes from scratch. We started mixing together corn flour, water, milk and salt for homemade arepa (the recipe brought to us straight from Cali by our dear Colombian friends). We started creating our own pizza doughs, with garfava and tapioca flours, to create gorgeous crispy-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside crusts perfect for piling high with hand-torn chunks of fresh mozzarella, black olives and local basil, spinach, onions and tomatoes.

We also started making risotto.

Oh, risotto! Decadently flavourful and creamy. Hearty and comforting. A seemingly fancy-pants dish that, in reality, is extraordinarily easy — and fairly pocketbook friendly. If you can ladle and you can stir, you can risotto. (And, you can also, apparently, turn nouns into verbs).

When we first began making risotto, we relied solely on other people’s recipes, following their instructions step by meticulous step as we honed our skills. Now, nine months since our initial foray into the wide world of Arborio rice, stock, butter and parmesan, we are, more and more often, leaving our cook books on the shelf and trying out our own recipes.

We have come to realize that a well-made risotto bianco is the perfect blank canvas for experimenting with new flavour combinations. From a basic risotto recipe, I can be as imaginative and creative as I desire, adding fresh herbs, dried herbs, seafood, bacon or roasted, boiled or puréed veggies. When it comes to risotto, the world is truly my oyster. (Mmm, oyster risotto. I’ve never tried it but I’m willing to bet it’s great. Oysters with butter, garlic, pepper, white wine…it’s perfect! Ooh, smoked oysters! And maybe some fresh parsley. I can definitely do something with this…but I digress).

It was with this sense of freedom and creativity that Daniel and I approached the dinner party we hosted last Wednesday night. Surrounded by good friends, good wine and good music, we chopped up farm-fresh leeks, picked fresh mint leaves from their stalks and mashed up the last peas of the season (we’d shelled and frozen them a few weeks prior). This was our first time trying this combination of flavours.  This was our first time inventing our very own risotto recipe. And it was a success.  We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Minted Mushy Pea & Braised Leek Risotto

For the Braised Leeks

3 cups good quality chicken stock (we like to use Pacific Foods)
good pinch of salt
4 leeks, trimmed and sliced in half lengthwise

For the Minted Mushy Peas

4 or 5 handfuls of peas (fresh or frozen)
1 handful of fresh mint leaves, stalks removed
3 good knobs of butter
salt & pepper

For the Risotto

the 3 cups of braising liquid plus 1 cup more chicken stock
olive oil
½ onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
10 oz Arborio rice
1 glass white wine (we always buy the largest and cheapest bottle available)
small handful grated Parmesan cheese
1 knob of butter
salt & pepper

Braising the Leeks

Bring stock and good pinch of salt to a simmer on stovetop. Once simmering, add leeks. Let simmer for 15 minutes, covered. Carefully remove your leeks from stock, drain off excess liquid, and set aside on a plate. Remove stock from heat and set aside for making the risotto.

Minting & Mushing the Peas

Toss your peas into boiling water and let them boil for approximately two minutes. Tear any large mint leaves into smaller pieces, add all the mint to the pot and let boil for about one minute more. Once your peas are tender with a slight pop, drain the peas and mint into a colander. Put your peas and mint back into your pot. Add butter, salt and a good crack of pepper and mash everything up with a potato masher. The peas don’t need to be mashed to a purée; we mashed until our peas were mostly mushed with some whole pea bits. Cover pot to keep the minted mushy peas warm while you make your risotto.

Making the Risotto

Add one more cup of chicken stock to your braising liquid and place over low heat on the stovetop. In another (large) pot, heat up a good glug of olive oil over medium heat. Add your chopped onion and garlic. Sauté until soft. Turn up heat and add rice. Keep stirring so your rice doesn’t stick. When your rice is toasted (it will turn somewhat translucent and become more fragrant), add the glass of white wine. Once the wine is fully absorbed into the rice, turn down the heat to a high simmer and begin adding your stock, one ladleful at a time. Be sure that each ladleful of stock is fully absorbed before adding the next. Continue adding stock, and gently stirring the rice, until your rice is almost fully cooked (it should have a bit of an “al dante bite”). This takes about 15 minutes. At this point, chop your braised leeks and add them to the pot with the minted, mushy peas. Gently stir until well combined. Remove from heat and add your butter, Parmesan, salt and pepper. Stir gently, cover and let sit for five minutes. The risotto will become wonderfully creamy and decadent.

Serve with extra Parmesan for grating a sprig of fresh mint for garnish.

Serves 6.