With this soft winter, I can almost see peas hanging on the pea plants that I planted at the end of autumn last year. I used the young plants to make pea shoot pesto. I didn’t take the plants out after I had harvested parts of them and because the winter was soft and we only had for a couple of times, they just kept growing. So soon we’ll have peas from our own garden. I can’t wait. The fresh sweet taste of a pea can brighten up any salad or dish. 

But did you know that you can not only eat the young pea shoots or the peas, but also the pea pods? Yes, really! It’s a bit of a poor mens meal thingy. But when I read that you could make pea pod soup from pea pods, I decided that I had to try it out. It’s always a pity to throw veggies away (even though they end up in our composting bin). And at the same time I just love how you can use all parts of a plant in different kind of meals.

pea pods

I decided to make a pea pod risotto though, not a soup. I just came up with the recipe myself. I used the base of the soup though, but left the onions out (because I didn’t have them) and added a bunch of garlic instead. Yes, I know a garlic isn’t an onion. But it tasted ok.

It’s a very easy recipe, which will take you about 60 minutes to finish, since it has to cook for a long time (yes, those peas are fibery). It’s best to make this recipe the day after you use the peas. The pea pods get old quickly. You can also prepare the broth the same day and freeze it for a later moment.

Before you start making it, you probably want to know if it was any good. I liked it. It tasted like peas and the texture was nice and creamy, even without adding cheese to the mix. So I would definitely make it again. 

Ingredients (for 2 people with an appetite):

– a few hands full of pea pods
– a small hand full of peas
– 3 garlic gloves
– 2 bouillon cubes
– 1,5 cup risotto rice
– 1,5 glass of white wine
– 1L water

What you need to do:

1. Take the pea pods and cut the top part or the flower part off. Throw the tops away. Now rinse the pea pods in some cold water and if you prefer some plain vinegar.

pea pod risotto1

2. Fry the chopped garlic lightly in some oil in a big frying pan, that you can use later on to finish of the risotto. Cook the water, bouillon cubes and wine in a separate pan.
3. When the garlic is done and the broth is cooking add a few spoons of the broth onto the fried garlic. Let it simmer for two minutes and then add the chopped pods into the pan and let it simmer for 25 more minutes on a low fire. If you are running out of broth, just add another spoon.

pea pod risotto2

4. Place the whole mix now into your blender and blend it for 30 seconds. Now that that’s done, you place it onto a sif and push the moisture out into a pan. You can throw away the fibers in the sif.

pea pod risotto3

5. Now place the rice in the pan with some oil and fry it for a few seconds, till the rice glazes. Now you can add the pea pod moisture and the rest of the broth. You can either do this gradually if you prefer to stir for 20 minutes. I don’t like stirring for 20 minutes. So I add all the broth at once and turn the fire low. Every 10 minutes I have a look and stir once or twice. At the end I stay with the rice and stir it until it’s done. 
6. Right before I served the risotto, I added the handful of peas into the pan, just for the bite and a bit of color. You can also add some rocket or any other kind of sturdy lettuce. Now you are ready. Enjoy!

pea pod risotto