Leftovers, ho! Risotto with Peas and Ham
You have been spared a long and boring post about frozen peas and the *Lusitania*. Why? I accidentally closed the window I was writing it in, and due to evolving laziness, I rarely use a word processor for posts anymore.
So let’s cut to the non-sandwich leftover chase. Derrick from [Obsession with Food](http://www.obsessionwithfood.com/) posted a [risotto primer](http://www.sfist.com/archives/2006/11/28/sfist_in_the_kitchen_risotto.php) on SFist recently. When I came across it yesterday, I got the hankering. Of course, I get the hankering for italiannate carbs every 24 hours or so, but today it was risotto. Risotto, like pasta, only more so, is one of those dishes where you look in the refrigerator and find out what’s for dinner. For me, it’s tied for first place with frittata for effective use of leftover vegetables and the hands down winner for best use of a single leftover pork chop, sausage link or tidbit of seafood.
When I look in the refrigerator these days, I see ham, a lot of ham. I saw a lot of baked ziti until the Agent’s brother and I polished it off, but the ham is still there. Fortnately, ham is both flavorful and versatile, and, being smoked, it plays well as a background flavor.
The beauty of risotto, of course, is that even plain risotto is really good: stock, onions, wine, rice and cheese- staples at our house- so anything you add to it makes it that much better. Take a cue from stir frying and add ingredients in reverse order of how long they take to cook. So, small cubes of raw squash could go in at the very beginning, eight minutes later some diced wax beans, then some goat cheese and sage leaves when the rice is really close. The whole process takes about 20 minutes.
**Risotto with Peas and Ham**
If you’re squeamish about not measuring things, risotto is the recipe for you to spread your eyeballing wings. Here’s a guestimate of what made dinner for two with bread and a salad.
3 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons peanut oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup short-grain rice, arborio or carnaroli are traditional
1-1/2 cups white wine
3 cups (or more) stock, water or other flavorful liquid (dried mushroom soaking liquid, cheese rinds (not wax ones) simmered in water for a half hour, half-strength bouillon from Knorr brand cubes, water from cooking vegetables, almost anything)
3/4 cup diced ham
3/4 cup diced peas
1/2 cup grated pecorino romano cheese
If you must make risotto now, follow the link above. If not, I’ll post the rest tomorrow. The Agent just got home, so the theory will come later.
