We have a little mountain cabin weekend-getaway planned for later this month. I’m super excited and counting down the days. Mark and I haven’t taken a vacation in over a year so this one is overdue for sure. I like to plan simple but romantic dishes to cook during our little trip and this risotto is just the thing. I’ve really simplified the formula overtime so that it hardly requires a recipe. 1 cup of rice, 1 cup of white wine, 4 cups of vegetable stock – easy! The aromatics and vegetables can be left up to you and what you have on hand. Asparagus has a short but sweet season here in North Carolina so I like to make the most of it while I can. I cooked the cut up stalks along with the risotto to really infuse those asparagus flavors and saved the pretty little tender tips for the garnish. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Ingredients
1 cup arborio rice
340 grams or 12 oz asparagus
2 small leeks, white and light green parts
3 medium-sized carrots
4 cups vegetable stock
2 oz parmesan cheese
227 grams shitake mushrooms
1 cup of white whine, nothing fancy, pinot grigio works fine
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
fresh parsley for garnish (optional)
juice of half a lemon.
Directions
Thinly slice the leeks and place them in a big pot with the butter, olive oil, fresh ground pepper and salt. Next dice the carrots and add them to the pot as well. Sauté for 5 to 10 minutes on medium heat until fragrant and leeks turn translucent. In a separate small saucepan, heat the vegetable stock on medium low. Cut the tough ends off the asparagus and disregard. Cut your way up the stalk as shown, keeping the pieces about 1/2 an inch big. Save the tips for later. Place the cut up asparagus stalk into the pot with the leeks and carrots. Add the rice and white wine. Stir and sauté on medium heat until no liquid is left in the pot. Add the vegetable stock to the big pot of risotto one ladle full at a time. Keeping the lid off and letting the liquid absorb into the rice before adding the next ladle full. Stir frequently to prevent from sticking to the pot. When the risotto is halfway done cooking, prepare the mushroom and asparagus tips for garnish. For quicker cooking, blanch the asparagus tips – just pour hot water over them in a colander. Rise with cool water. Slice the mushrooms and add them to a pan with 1 tablespoon of butter or olive oil on medium heat. Sprinkle with a bit of salt. Sauté for 5 minutes or so until tender then add the asparagus tips and sauté a few minutes more or until fragrant and just beginning to slightly brown. The risotto shouglt be just about done cooking at this point. Grate the parmesan cheese and stir it into the risotto. Cover the pot and turn off the heat. This helps thicken the risotto. Pour the juice of half a lemon over the asparagus and mushrooms and sauté for one more minute then turn off the heat. Serve risotto as shown with a bit of fresh parsley if you like.