When I was in Helsinki I ate fennel and pea risotto. It was delicious. The fennel in Italy is plentiful so I experimented with my own recipe.
I chopped some fennel and some spring onions.
I fried them gently in olive oil, being careful not to let them turn brown. Then I added arborio rice and stirred to coat the rice with oil.
I then added hot stock a little at a time until the rice had absorbed enough to make it tender, but not too soft.
In the meantime I cooked the peas briefly. It is too early for fresh peas, so I used frozen ones.
I kept some whole peas aside and pureed the rest.
I added the pureed peas to the rice and continued to cook until the rice was ready.
I then added the whole peas and stirred until they were heated through. I added some butter, grated Parmesan cheese and put it in a serving bowl.
And then I ate it. It didn’t look like the risotto I had in Helsinki, but it tasted excellent.