Snap peas (we call in Italian “taccole”) are often used as a side dish, with tomato. In search of something new, fresh and spring-like, I pulled this rice pie (timballo) out of the top hat, stuffed with a pesto of asparagus and snap peas. With a nice crispy crust!

Ingredients for 3 persons
2 table cups of arborio rice
4 asparagus
20 snap peas
10 almonds
2 cloves of garlic
1 mozzarella
100 g grated Parmigiano Reggiano
evo oil
butter
salt
pepper

Time: 60 minutes

Let’s cook!

Turn on the oven to 180 degrees, static mode. Boil the rice in plenty of salted water.

Meanwhile, pan-fry the asparagus and the snap peas in a nonstick pan with a drizzle of oil. Using an immersion blender, mix the vegetables with the garlic, almonds, and a drizzle of oil. Adjust for salt and pepper.

Drain the rice and butter a baking dish. Scatter a generous sprinkling of Parmigiano Reggiano, spread a first layer of rice (using half of it) and on top of that arrange the sliced mozzarella.

Spread the snap pea and asparagus pesto, in a nice layer. Sprinkle with Parmigiano and add the second layer of the rice. Sprinkle the surface with butter flakes and Parmigiano Reggiano shreds. Bake for 30 minutes at 180 degrees, until a nice golden crust has formed.

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