Rich and Creamy Asparagus Risotto

Asparagus Risotto??? Back home rice is a side dish that doesn’t get to be the belle of the ball.

That is unless one has leftovers and gets creative. Then it might be hailed in a quick bowl of fried rice and a sinful drizzle of ketchup. I grew up eating the same cultural staple foods on rotating days. And had the occasional sausages or bacon here and there. Sometimes pasta with mushroom and cream, perhaps even store-bought pizza on someone’s birthday. But that is as far as we went with what I would refer to as somewhat of a Western diet. Oh, the good ol days…

From our never-ending conversations about food; it was clear that Fran and his family had never tried any of what had frequented my plate growing up. This made me ever so bashful to dare do anything in the kitchen (with his father who is a seasoned chef) but assist.                                                    

Risotto… ’21 questions’

It was yet another welcomed sunny day in Napoli and I was famished!!!! So, there I was anxious to know what we would have for lunch. And Fran excitedly (as this is one of his favourites) says risotto. I didn’t know what that was which further led to a Q&A ending with a puzzled look on my face.

Confused because I couldn’t understand how we were to eat what I consider a side as a main dish. “So, what are we going to have it with?” I asked, he chuckled answering “ artichokes”… ahh and there it was- yet another vegetable I had never heard of.         

And the questioning continued: “What will we have with the rice and vegetable?” he says “Nothing, that’s the main course”. “But will that be enough? No fish or meat?” he laughs, looks me in the eyes as he reaches out for my hand to give a reassuring caress; “don’t worry it is quite filling and you will enjoy it”.

And so I did, so much so that risotto is somewhat of a regular on the dinner table. So, if this is your first time too; I say give it a shot. You will never know unless you try.

Something about that hypnotising scent of toasted rice; right before you splash in the wine and hear that sizzle of surprise from the pan.

Some recipes take time and that’s okay. Not every meal needs to be ready in under 10 minutes or eaten on the go. Take your time and enjoy preparing this, no… seriously do not try to rush this. 

Ready, set, hold on a sec….

Okay, I would normally add the notes at the bottom of the post. But just in case you want to rush into it; I need you to read the below. Because it is really very easy to mess up:

Don’t take your eyes off of me: Do not take your eye off the rice for more than a few minutes. If you do, you might end up having to scrape it off the pan resulting in a mess of hard rice crusts. Which brings us to the next step

Heeeelp, i’m stuck! This is bound to happen. Whether it’s in the final moments or after you just got started cooking your rice. You might get distracted and forget to add water to the rice and it will stick to the bottom of the pan. What do you do? If the rice is halfway ready then take it off the fire and add a ladleful of water and without stirring, give it a minute to settle to the bottom.

Now give it a little wiggle and using a flat spatula, begin to stir through- making sure the tip of the spatula is in direct contact with the bottom of the pan as you are trying not to mash up the rice. However, if the rice had gotten stuck when it was almost done then take it off the fire and add about 1/4 ladleful of water to help it loosen up a bit and proceed with the other steps.

More: If you want the risotto to have a more intense flavour and aroma of asparagus. You can: Add the asparagus shoots into the stock while it simmers. Or cook the shoots with the rice and take them out when you add in the tips 7 minutes before the risotto is ready. I did the latter.

Butter me up: Yaaaasssss, butter is your friend! So don’t be shy and invite it to the party. Eh ehm but only at the end, to smoothen things over for that velvety melt-in-your-mouth finish.

Mmmm so creamy: To get that oh-so-creamy texture, pop in that Parmigiano rind you thought was good for nothing. Then leave it to cook with the rice for the whole 25 minutes and remove it before serving. I promise you will never throw these away again once you see how much flavour and creaminess they pack into your risotto.

More or less: If asparagus is a favourite then by all means toss in a few more chopped stalks. I prefer to have a few as it’s a good balance and doesn’t take over the rice, and you could eat the shoots as a side

Which pan? Use a frying pan with a bit of depth to avoid spilling over while you stir. And feel free to use homemade vegetable stock if you have it rather than store-bought. I admit to using vegetable stock pot (I know I deserve a smack on the hand for it but hey!).

Wine??? Cook with it only if you can drink it. Yes, I know you’ve heard this ‘song’ before but it’s important- best to use a nice dry white wine.

When buying asparagus– look for tips with a vibrant colour, perky and not limp or soft, the stem should be firm.

A little bread on the side to wipe off all that leftover creamy deliciousness on the plate/pan isn’t a bad idea, so indulge. 

It takes a while to prepare this with what seems like endless stirring but it’s well worth it. So, pour yourself a glass of wine and dance to some Pino Daniele and you will be done in no time!!! Cooking shouldn’t feel like just another chore crossed off the list. So try and think of this as the time taken to express love to yourself, family or friends.

Once you have mastered making risotto your next stop should be arancini, where you can experiment with so many options be it meat or vegetables.

Storage:

Not recommended, risotto is always best eaten fresh off the stove. 

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Print Recipe

Creamy risotto asparagus

(+10 rating, 2 votes)

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Main: Dinner/Lunch – Italian

By My food memoirs – Serves: 2

Prep Time: 3 minutes – Cooking Time: 25 minutes – Total Time: 28 minutes

Ingredients

• • 1 litre of water
• • 1 vegetable stock pot or 1.3 litre of homemade vegetable stock
• • 1/4 tsp Salt
• • 50g Grated Parmigiano reggiano/ parmesan and 1 parmigiano rind
• • 20g butter
• • 160g of arborio rice
• • 2 tbsp of finely chopped brown onion
• • 4 tbsp of olive oil
• • 80ml dry white wine
• • 250g pack of asparagus

Instructions

1

MISE EN PLACE

2

Finely chop the onions

3

Trim and discard the end of the stalk by cutting off about 1 cm, split the rest of the asparagus in two portions (stalk and tip)

4

On the remainder of the asparagus stalk, dice about 3 tbsp worth and set aside the remainder

5

Measure the rice and wine

6

Grate the parmigiano reggiano

7

RICE

8

Pour 1 litre of water into a pot and bring it to a boil, add the stock then reduce to a simmer (this needs to remain hot so as not to reduce the temperature of the cooking risotto). If using homemade vegetable stock, bring it to a boil and reduce heat to simmer.

9

Saute the onions until soft (not brown) in a deep, non stick, heavy bottomed saucepan over medium high heat (2 minutes or until soft)

10

Add in the rice to toast for about 3 minutes making sure you keep stirring. The rice will start to release a toasted scent after about a minute, then the outer colour of the grain will change from white to translucent-though not all the way through (do not wait until the rice has browned, if the 3 minutes aren't done but the rice has begun to brown then move to the next step!)

11

Pour in the wine, stir and wait until it has evaporated

12

Add the leftover stalks (not stem and finely diced stalk bits), parmigiano/parmesan rind and a ladleful of stock. Constantly stir (making sure the wooden spoon is in direct contact with the bottom of the pan so as not to break the grains as they soften).

13

As the rice keeps absorbing the stock keep adding a ladle at a time. After about 18 minutes take out the stalks, then add in the asparagus tips and finely diced stalk. Leave to cook for a further 7 minutes or until the rice is soft but firm to the bite and the asparagus is not limp.

14

FINISH

15

Place the pan on a cooling rack, take out the parmesan rind. Pour in a few tablespoons of stock if the rice seems a little dry, add in the grated parmigiano and butter- mix well and serve.