Rice Salad with Artichokes, Peas and Tuna

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This rice dish was one of those easy dishes my mom would always prepare
the morning of an unexpected picnic.  Simple enough to make with all
the ingredients lying around our pantry, it assembles in to a great
side salad.  The dressing for this salad comes from the oil the tuna is
packed in combined with the marinade the artichokes are packed in.   I
like using Italian tuna belly packed in olive oil if you can find it in
a specialty market.   'Ventresca' means belly tuna, the most flavorful
part of the tuna fish.  This tuna is expensive, but worth every penny.

Ingredients:

1 cup DeLallo Arborio Risotto
1 – 5.6 oz can tuna belly packed in olive oil, reserve the oil
2 – 12oz DeLallo marinated artichokes, quartered, reserve the marinade liquid
1 box - 1lb frozen green peas, thawed but not cooked
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

For this dish, abandoned your idea of traditional risotto cooking methods and cook the rice as you would pasta: bring a medium pot of water to boil; salt the water and add the risotto.  Stir and cook the rice is al dente, about 12 minutes. Drain the rice in a colander and rinse in cold water to remove the excess starch.  Drain very well, set aside to cool. 

Once cooled, add the risotto into a large mixing bowl.  Add in all the remaining ingredients.  Be sure to add the oil from the tuna and the marinade from the artichokes, this will create the dressing.  Mix until the peas, artichokes and tuna are dispersed evenly.  Salt and pepper to taste and serve cold.  

** Preferably refrigerate for 1 hour before serving and stir occasionally to allow juices to flavor the rice.  

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