Baked risotto with peas

I had some fresh peas that needed using up and I’d made a vat of vegetable broth in the crock pot with all the farmers market byproducts (beet stems, corn cobs, leek and onion tops, etc.) so this recipe struck me as just the thing. 

Easy Parmesan “Risotto”

From “How Easy Is That” by Ina Garten, my new favorite cookbook crush 

Ingredients

1½ cups Arborio rice

5 cups broth, divided

½ cup white wine

3 tablespoons butter, cut into chunks

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish

1 cup cooked peas

2 teaspoons kosher salt

Black pepper to taste

Method

Put rice and 4 cups of broth into a Dutch oven. Cover and bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 45 minutes until most of the liquid is absorbed. Remove from oven and place on stovetop over medium heat. Add remaining cup of broth, wine, butter and cheese. Stir until thick and creamy. Add peas. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with Parmesan cheese. Serves 6 quite easily.

Rating: Tasty, and surprisingly like risotto for something that takes much less attention. Definitely worth keeping in the recipe file 

Dishes alert: This one rates a dishes alert not because of numbers of dishes generated, but because the one pan it uses may be a doozy to clean. The Parmesan and arborio rice both have a glue-like quality that took a lot of baking soda and oomph to restore the luster to my Le Creuset #22 (affectionately known as Big Blue, despite having been eclipsed by Mega Blue and then Bigger Than Blue).

Pairings: Aside from the dry white wine, of course, this went well with some mock tenders prepared using another recipe from the same book: Garten gives instructions for preparing steaks the way steakhouses do, getting finished off in the oven. The steaks are brushed with oil, then sprinkled liberally with sea salt and pepper, which is pressed in to the steaks. You preheat your skillet or grill pan (I put it in the oven with the risotto) and then sear the steaks on all sides. You transfer the pan to a 400-degree oven to bake the steaks for 8 to 12 minutes depending on how you like them. Given that we made them with a cut of meat that generally is best treated with long braising, I'd say the methodology wasn't bad, because they turned out well enough. I haven't yet tried the Roquefort chive sauce she lists as topping it off, but it looks darned tasty.