Peas

Risi e Bisi | Tagliatelle w/ Prosciutto, Peas & Cream

Sugar Snap Peas

Storage

Store peas dry (unwashed) in a plastic bag or container in the refrigerator for 1 week to 10 days.

Shelling Peas

"You are my saviour!" "Wow, these are the kind you shell?!  No one grows these anymore."  These are comments we hear at the farmers' market when we bring the first pick of shelling peas.  This vegetable seems to provoke outpourings of emotion: memories of childhood, outright joy, and intense cravings that can only be satisfied during a brief period each season.

This is the ultimate experiential vegetable.  A sweetness that makes you work for it.  We crave that experience of meditative shelling as much as the sweet result.  Just sitting on the porch, maybe enjoying a cold lemonade or a beer, shelling those peas.  Take some time out this week and just sit, shell, and let your mind wander.

Now, there is the matter of what fabulous creations you can make with your peas.  Peas crave the company of other foods that toe the line between sweet and savory: onions, bacon, cream, mint.  One market customer spoke of combining them with bacon and scallops and serving them over a dressed salad.

Storage

Peas, like sweet corn, start losing their sweetness as soon as they are picked.  Shell and use immediately. If not using right away, shell the peas and freeze them.

Freezing

Freeze shelled peas in quart or gallon-size freezer bags. No boiling necessary.

Recipes

Risi e Bisi

• 1 lb. peas, shelled
• 1 ½ quarts chicken broth or water 
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 slices pancetta or bacon, diced
• 2 cups Arborio rice 
• ½ cup white wine
• 2 Tbsp butter
• freshly grated Parmesan
• parsley, finely chopped

Bring the broth to a simmer on the back burner. Brown onion and pancetta in oil then add rice and stir well to coat with oil. Add the wine, and when it boils off start adding ½ cup of broth at a time, stirring regularly, until the rice is cooked, about 30 minutes. Add the peas about halfway through. Add the butter, cheese and parsley and season with salt & pepper. Serve immediately with extra cheese.

Fresh Tagliatelle with Prosciutto, Peas and Cream

• 4 Tbsp butter
  1/2 cup sliced onion (red cipollini are my favorite for this)
  1-2 cups freshly shelled peas
  1 1/2 cups heavy cream
  1/2 cup freshly grated parmesean
  2 ounces prosciutto, sliced extremely thin
  fresh homemade or purchased egg tagliatelle or fettucine
• 2 tbsp flat Italian parsley, chopped

Boil and salt the pasta water.  In a wide skillet, saute the onion lightly in the butter until translucent.  Add the peas and saute 5 minutes over medium heat.  Add the cream and bring to a boil, then simmer 3-5 minutes until slightly reduced.  Add the Parmesan and stir to incorporate.  Turn off the flame and tear bite-sized pieces of prosciutto into the sauce.  Meanwhile, cook the fresh pasta until it floats, drain well and add to the pan in which the sauce was cooked (alternately, combine in a serving bowl).  Toss and serve immediately with freshly ground pepper, additional cheese and parsley.  Hint: eat it all because if you reheat leftovers the next day, the cream disappears in a puddle of grease.