It’s called pea risotto all’onda but it could be the Venetian-style rice and peas or the classic risi e bisi. A complete, traditional dish of ancient origin.

I talk about it extensively here, and today I revisit the classic recipe revamping it a bit, but using all the local products.

Going back to my Venetian tradition, childhood memories, to Germana, a sweet mother, gourmet, and plump, who managed to give taste and color even to the lightest dishes.

With my father Francesco, the kitchen turned into a perfect mix of tradition and light eating.

I remember the attention at the table for light foods, little butter, only extra virgin olive oil, few long cooking times, only the freshest products.

A phrase my father often repeated and that accompanied me over the years was: Do we eat to live or live to eat? We eat to live!

So together and unconsciously, they instilled in me a passion for traditional dishes, but reimagined lightly, making them modern and suitable for the times we live in.

That’s why I could never have loved healthy food for its own sake, but healthy and beautiful, light and tasty, healthy and colorful.

I remember Sundays when we would leave early to buy rice in Grumolo delle Abadesse, the asparagus in Bassano del Grappa, the cherries in Marostica, the walnuts in Lugo Vicentino, the peas in Lumignano or the potatoes in Rotzo. The best products from the area, directly from those who grew them.

What was brought to the table was extremely important, fresh, the best quality. All this passion was a gift from those who came before us.

I speak about my parents because unfortunately, I barely got to know my grandparents. I only remember Cesira, my father’s mother. Small, always smiling, incredibly fast at sealing tortellini. I also remember the slaps on the hands because my twin and I tried to steal and eat some raw ones.

It’s thanks to the traditions, the love, the passion of those who preceded us that the desire to carry on these simple values is born.

This pea risotto all’onda is a tribute to them, a heartfelt thanks for what enthusiastically drives me every day. It’s a continual search for the flavors of those times, a taste of nostalgia, a taste of love which unfortunately cannot be repeated but gives the impulse to try and try again until perfection.

Often with my sister, we exchange recipes, “mom made them this way, but they don’t have that wonderful taste” should we try again?

I am immensely grateful to Follador Prosecco for inviting me to the Follador Heritage contest 2024, for the 255th anniversary of the birth of the family wine tradition, a cultural heritage and homage to Giovanni Follador, the founder, nicknamed Nani de Berti. Generations with an authentic love for the land and the world of Prosecco.

This pea risotto all’onda dish is paired with a Prosecco Superiore di Valdobbiadene DOCG Brut Nani de Berti.

Let’s move on to the risotto! In an old recipe book of mine, I found the recipe for risi e bisi in Venetian: This good little dish is prepared with “all-eaten” peas, that is, the new peas that come, just right, from this spring season.

Want to try to make the wave with your risotto? With quick flicks, pushing the pot forward without lifting it from the surface, then pulling it towards you, you’ll see a wave that shows the creaminess of the risotto.

Now is the season for peas so, ready, set, go.

If you’re interested in regional traditional recipes both from Veneto and all over Italy, you’ll find many in the blog, take a look at: