Spring Pea Risotto with Garlic Scape Butter

First, prep:
* Get peas, wine, out
* Cut 3-4 slices of bacon into strips
* Dice onion
* Take 2 stick of butter out of the fridge

Then, cook:
* Get out a dutch oven or heavy saucepan, put over medium heat.

* Put stock in a pot (or the teapot, makes adding it to the rice easier) and heat up (but not to boiling/simmering. Just hot.). Leave it on the heat.

* Add a drizzle of olive oil + bacon to the dutch oven. Cook until bacon is done but not super-crispy or burned. Remove bacon to paper towels. If there’s more than 2-3 Tbsp of fat in the pot, pour out the extra.

* Add the onion. Saute for a few minutes until it starts to get see-thru.

* Add 1 ½ cups of rice. Toss to coat it all in fat. Cook for about 5 minutes. If the rice starts to brown the heat is too high. Eventually, the rice will look like it has a see-thru coating – that means it’s coated in the fat.

* Turn heat up to medium/medium high. Pour in 1 c. of wine. Stir until wine is pretty much all absorbed. At this point, start adding 1-2 ladles of stock at a time. Stir. When stock is mostly absorbed, add more. Stir. Add stock. Continue.

* Taste about 15 minutes in. Rice should be almost done. Add the peas so they can finish cooking with the rice.

* When the rice is done – usually takes 18-20 minutes from when you start adding the stock, you have to judge by tasting it – stir in 1 c. grated parm, black pepper and the bacon. Check for salt (with the bacon and parm, it’s probably fine).

For scape butter: 2 sticks unsalted butter + 5 or 6 garlic scapes + food processor until well blended.

Split between 4 bowls, add a teaspoon or two of scape butter on top. (Or serve as a side, passing scape butter around.)

Save extra scape butter for killer mashed potatoes; to put on grilled steak, fish or corn; or to make garlic bread or crostini.