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RECIPE: Risotto con Asparagi

Risotto agli Asparagi
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Ingredients

Scale
  • 750g ( 1½ Pounds) Asparagus
  • 5 Tbl. Good Quality Olive Oil
  • ½ Piece Onion, Diced Very Small
  • 330g (1½ Cups) Arborio, Carnaroli or Vialone Nano Rice
  • 60 ml. (1/4 Cup) Dry White Wine
  • 1.5 Litres  (6 Cups) Light Coloured, Sodium Free Chicken Broth – Hot
  • 50 g. (1/8 Pound) Unsalted Butter – Cut Into  ¼” Cubes
  • 50 g. (1/8 Pound) Grated Grana Padano
  • 1 Pc Lemon

Instructions

  1. Carefully wash the asparagus, then cut off any of the hard woody stalks.
  2. Cut the asparagus into 1/8” thick rounds, leaving 1” to 1 ½” of the tips of each stalk whole, separating the tips from the rest of the cut pieces of asparagus.
  3. In a large heavy bottom pot over medium low heat, add 2 Tbl. Olive oil and the asparagus tips along with a pinch of salt.
  4. Cook the asparagus slowly until they are soft on the outside, but still a little crunchy in the centre, about 2 minutes.
  5. Remove the asparagus tips from the pot and repeat the process with the cut pieces, keeping them separate from the tips.
  6. Once all the asparagus is cooked, add another 3 Tbl. Olive oil to the pot, then add the onions and a pinch of salt.
  7. Slowly cook the onions stirring often until they are completely soft.
  8. Add the rice to the pot and stir it well to coat each grain of rice with a little of the oil. If there isn’t enough oil in the pot to coat all the rice, add a little more. There should be a fine coating of oil on the rice, but there should not be a puddle in the bottom of the pot.
  9. Add the wine to the pot and stir into the rice. The wine should boil immediately and be absorbed into the rice very quickly. (I always use a heat proof rubber spatula for cooking risotto, but a wooden spoon works as well.)
  10. As soon as the pot is almost dry, add the stock 250ml ( 8 Oz.) at a time, stirring immediately, insuring that no grains of rice have become stuck to the sides of the pot.
  11. The stock should quickly come to a boil, so you must adjust the temperature so that it is gently simmering.
  12. Repeat the process adding the stock 250 ml at a time once the pot is almost dry.
  13. Once you have added 1 litre of the stock, taste a few grains of rice to see how close they are to being done. We will be cooking them ‘al dente’ which means firm, but not crunchy or chalky.
  14. Once you are getting close to having the rice cooked al dente, add the stock in smaller quantities to ensure that you don’t add too much liquid as this will result in over cooked rice.
  15. At this point we add the cooked asparagus into the rice, saving about 12 of the nicest looking pieces of the asparagus tips to garnish the risotto.
  16. When your rice is cooked al dente stop adding stock and let your rice absorb any liquid in the pot until it is almost completely dry.
  17. Remove the pot from the heat and add 1/3 each of the butter and grated Grana Padano, whipping the rice vigorously with your rubber spatula or wooden spoon. (This step is called ‘Mantecare’. The starch is beaten out of the rice and mixes with the fat from the butter and cheese , this is what gives the risotto its characteristic creamy consistency.)
  18. Add the remaining butter and Grana Padano in two more stages, working the rice the same way.
  19. Once the butter and cheese are all incorporated, check the seasoning and adjust if needed.
  20. Plate the rice into 4 plates, top with the reserved garnish pieces of asparagus, and grate a little bit of the lemon zest onto each plate of risotto.

Find it online: https://buonissimo.ca/recipe-risotto-con-asparagi/