Risi e Bisi

Every couple of weeks we try to have several of guys who work with my husband over for dinner (with or without girlfriends - totally up to them).  It has been interesting trying to come up with meals that are filling and hearty for an extra 4 to 8 people.  I have done sauce and bbq pulled pork.  Two days ago, I tried a totally new recipe on for size - risi e bisi - Rice and Pea Soup.  What?!?!?  You can't serve rice and peas to a bunch of guys, that is far from hearty.  Don't worry, it has ham and cheese in it as well.  Here we go:

risi e bisi

from Food & Wine's Quick From Scratch Italian

Ingredients

6 tbsp butter
1 onion, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 quarts chicken broth
1 1/2 cups of rice, preferably arborio
2 tbsp of parsley
1 3/4 tsp salt
2 cups frozen petite peas (1 10 oz package), defrosted
1 1/4 pound piece deli ham, cut into small dice
3/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 tsp black pepper

Steps

1.  In a large pot, melt the butter over moderately low heat.  Add the onion, celery, and garlic, stirring occasionally until the vegetable start to soften, approximately 5 minutes.
2.  Add the wine and boil until it almost evaporates, about 5 minutes.
3.  Add the broth and bring to a boil.  Boil until the liquid is reduced to approximately 7 cups, about 20 minutes.
4.  Add the rice, parsley, and salt.  Cook at a low boil, stirring occasionally until the rice is just tender, about 10 to 15 minutes.
5.  Stir in peas, ham, Parmesan, and pepper. Set heat to low.  Serve when ham and peas become warm.

The Final Product
This was yummy.  Considering it had just snowed the evening prior and the temps are now considerably colder than what they had been, this felt really good in your tummy.  I do have a couple notes to add.  First, I doubled this recipe when I made it - in doing so, instead of 4 tbsp of parsley, I added another 2 tbsp of Italian herb mix, I just like the herb mix.  I also only used about 2 pounds of diced ham cubes instead of 2.5.  I did use all 4 quarts of chicken broth and 1 full cup of white wine.  There is only one thing I would make a severe adjustment on - salt.  I don't think it needs close to that much salt.  Actually, I would cut it out all together and let people add to their bowl as they see fit.  But I guess it wasn't too much, considering our guests got multiple servings of it.  Definitely a keeper and good for these cold weather months.