Risi e bisi - Venetian homecooking recipe

I received from Santa a very nice book: History and Origin of Venetian cooking by Giampiero Rorato; very interesting as it explains all of the influences during history which brought to nowadays dishes. So, I can now try and share with you plenty of traditional recipes! One of these is risi e bisi (rice and peas), which I actually used to prepare before as well, but I can now share with the authority of the printed book. Enjoy!

For 4 persons:

• 400g peas
• 200g rice (1 espresso cup per person + 1 for the pot)
• 50g bacon
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 onion
• chopped parsley
• stock
• grated Parmesan cheese
• salt

Chop the onion and bacon and stir-fry them in a little olive oil in a high-sided pan or pot; add the peas and let them cook for about 15 minutes (my advice: moisture with stock if they become too dry). Add the rice, stir well, add salt and start adding the stock, boiling temperature, ladle by ladle, until the rice is cooked. Risi e bisi is usually a little creamier and soup-like than ordinary risotto. Before serving, add Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley.
Optional: you can replace the stock with a pea pods one, it will give the risi e bisi a slightly green colour.