Day 132: a virid summer glow
I’ve become quite accustomed to cooking for just the two of us during this cookalong. I enjoy the calm, stress-free, no-time-constraint approach to each recipe I cook. It gives me the freedom to potter about, get distracted (my alpha skill), and spend all the time - and have all the strops - I need whilst trying to take that perfect photo. The pressure gets turned up slightly when guests are involved: I don’t want to serve them cold food, and I should be spending my time with them - not prancing about the kitchen in an epicure’s daydream (as pleasurable a place as that is). It also means you have additional critics at the table - and there is no greater critic than the company of children; they can be the hardest of us to please.
On Tuesday night we had our very good friends come for dinner with their two beautiful children, the youngest of which we have just become godparents to. I’ve cooked for friends’ children many times before, but not during this cookalong. So, I took to Twitter and asked what your family-favourite Nigella recipes are to cook when expecting the company of children at the dinner table.
And what wonderful responses it received! So many to choose from. I’m going to make a list of them all and post it to this blog for easy access to all looking for Nigella-themed inspirations for their family feast celebrations. Each one sounded delicious. Not a single one I wouldn’t have considered. But, as I really need to build up my Day-count for this cookalong, I wanted to go with something I hadn’t cooked before, which included Nigella’s suggestion of her Pasta Risotto with Peas and Pancetta (made for Day 111, and several times since). In the end, my decision had to be based on what I had in the deep freeze and cupboards; my day was unexpectedly filled with meetings and I didn’t have time to go shopping.
I’m never without frozen peas. Granted, sometimes there's just a cupful left in the bag, but they're still there and ready to save the day if you need a little something vibrant and green in your pasta or a buttery batch of sweet green on the side of your main meal. Mum ingrained in me from a very young age that my freezer should always have a stash of petit pois in it - and I’ve honoured that since I left home sixteen years ago. Except sometimes between shops. And it’s typical that Mum should visit during these unprepared moments: asks if I have any peas in the freezer and, while wiping the worktop or opening a cupboard to avoid direct eye contact, I wince before saying no. I feel the shame!
The reason I talk of petit pois, other than their unfailing, stalwart reputation, is that several Tweeters suggested I cooked Nigella’s Pea Risotto for our guests and their kids. Luckily, I had an unopened packet of these pellets of green summery sweetness in the freezer, a full packet of arborio rice and - as always - plenty of fresh parmesan in the fridge. And I am now never without my little selection of fortified wines, thanks to Nigella.
Nigella’s Pea Risotto
This also marks my first time making risotto for more than two people. Not sure I could sustain risotto-making on a daily basis when we have kids of our own, but, as always, it’s was pleasurably meditative experience; in fact, I made this one whilst chatting, sipping wine, ladling and stirring simultaneously. It’s perfect for that.
Flavour musings
Virid, creamy and studded with pellets of green summery sweetness. Nigella’s Pea Risotto made for the perfect summer catch up with friends, and it was a big hit with the kids too! Even if we did have to use Tom Daley and Marcus Rashford’s successes as an incentive to get one of them to eat green food!
I’m thinking next time I need to make this, or serve it, in something pink. Those colours!
You can find the recipe for this in How to Eat and Eating Vintage Mini.
