Black-Eyed Pea Risotto

Black-Eyed Pea Risotto

I usually make a big ol’ batch of black-eyed peas for New Year’s Day, but since I’m the only one who likes to eat them, I decided to mix it up and make this Black-Eyed Pea Risotto for lunch instead with a smaller batch of peas to see if I could at least get my husband to try them that way. No go. He had soup and grilled cheese instead.

I want to give my foodie friend Karen over at Back Road Journal a shout out for the inspiration to make this. She says it’s the only way she can get her husband to eat black-eyed peas, and was hoping it would be the same case for mine. He wouldn’t even taste them!

I used my homemade ham stock from the freezer to cook both the black-eyed peas and risotto. If you don’t have any ham stock, then you can substitute chicken broth instead. I also typically make my black-eyed peas from dried peas soaked overnight, but I used a half-bag of frozen instead. You could also substitute frozen with canned and not have to cook them as long. Last, I made my “Texas” version of the peas, spicing it up with bacon and jalapeño.

And I have a confession to make: This is the first time I’ve ever made risotto. It’s true, I swear! I’ve been wanting to try making it for many years, but always balked at the time it took standing and stirring at the stove. It really wasn’t that tedious of a process, plus it was interesting to watch the rice transform in texture over time. Now that I’ve leapt that hurdle, I’m hoping to try out some different risotto recipes I’ve bookmarked.

Black-Eyed Pea Risotto
Inspired by Black-Eyed Pea Risotto from Back Road Journal

1/4 cup diced onion
2 tablespoons real bacon bits
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
8 ounces frozen black-eyed peas, or sub with one drained and rinsed can
Ground black pepper, to taste
4 cups homemade ham or chicken broth, divided
3 slices of jarred jalapeños, minced, plus a teaspoon of juice from jar
1/2 cup Arborio or short-grained uncooked rice

Cooking the Black-Eyed Peas

In a saucepan, saute the onion and bacon bits in one tablespoon of the olive oil for about 5 minutes, then stir in the jalapeño and juice. Add the black-eyed peas, then cover with 2 cups ham broth. Season with ground black pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil, then turn down and simmer for about a half hour or longer, until the peas are tender. (If using canned, you only need to simmer for a few minutes and should probably cut down the broth by a lot.)

Meanwhile, microwave 2 cups of ham broth until piping hot. Add the other tablespoon of oil to a large skillet over medium heat and add the uncooked rice. Cook it for a few minutes until it starts to shimmer. Don’t let it brown.

Starting the Risotto ~ As you can see, it is still pretty white and firm

Pour in 1/2 cup of the hot ham broth and stir continuously until the broth is absorbed completely, about 10 minutes. Stir in another 1/2 cup of hot broth (microwave to reheat as needed) and stir until absorbed.

Risotto After Second Half-Cup of Broth~ You can see the rice is plumping up now and getting creamier

Continue this process of adding a half cup of broth and stirring until the two cups are used up. If needed, add more broth or water at the end until desired consistency is reached. (I had to do this due to our high altitude, it was still too al dente after using up the two cups.)

Ham Broth Risotto Almost Finished ~ It has developed a lot of color and creaminess now

Last, add the black-eyed pea mixture to the rice, stir until combined, and serve! That’s a whole lot of my own yumminess in a bowl!

Black-Eyed Peas and Risotto Mixed Together

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