When the summer heat becomes hard to tolerate, we do not fancy preparing hot and elaborate main courses. So we suggest something suitable for this hot season: rice is an easy-to-digest-cereal and moreover it is gluten-free, so it is great for the summer!

Among the different types of rice available, I have chosen for this recipe, the Venere Black Rice: aromatic and delicate at the same time. Cooking this rice is lovely because rice releases a nice smell, similar to freshly baked biscuits, when cooking. Its purplish grains give elegance to the simplest of plates. This recipe was born to meet the need of preparing a fresh, easy and quick main dish! Peas and ginger are in season, easy to be found in organic Fruit and Vegetable shop. Mixing these two ingredients together creates a unique sensation of freshness to your palate. Take a pan, pour some cold water in it and then add the Organic Venere Black Rice. Let it cook for around 30 minutes (the organic rice needs more time to be cooked). Then drain “al dente”.

Meanwhile, boil the peas on a small pan, for around 10 minutes.

We tend not to cook too much our vegetables in order to preserve their nourishing properties and their colours: two important elements in our cooking philosophy.

In this case, we aim to get bright green peas, barely parboiled.

In a “tall and narrow” container, blend the peas with some extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of organic whole sea salt and some water (the same water previously used to boil the peas) we will get a soft creamy sauce. We will add some ginger slices to it to soften the sweet taste of the peas and give a spicy touch to the plate!

We will also boil a small potato that will be used to garnish the plate. Peel it and cut into dices.

In a pan we will add the Venere Black Rice to the ginger spicy creamy sauce and mix them up properly.

To garnish the plate, we will use a “coppapasta” (a round food ring mold), a very useful kitchen tool to give a special touch to every dish. We will fill the food ring mold up totally with rice.

Garnish with potatoes dices and 5 or 6 petals of a common, non-refined rose.

The potato gives more nourishment and texture to the plate.

Sometimes these simple ingredients contribute considerably to decorate our plates.

Add some ginger slices and olive oil and your summer plate is ready!