Risotto with asparagus 

Asparagus risotto is one of my favorite spring pasta dishes! So simple and genuine, it is the perfect recipe to enhance the delicate and unmistakable flavor of these delicious seasonal vegetables. Asparagus, in fact, is used in all its parts: the stalks cut into slices enrich the risotto, while the tips are transformed into a velvety cream to be added at the time of creaming for a perfectly wavy result. The toughest part of the stems is also used to prepare vegetable broth, a clever way to recycle waste that will give an even more intense and aromatic taste!

INGREDIENTS

Carnaroli Rice 320 g

Asparagus 750 g

Grana Padano 50 g

Butter 50 g

Shallot 1

Extra virgin olive oil to taste

FOR THE BROTH

Carrots 2

Celery 1 coast

Onions 1

Water 2 l

Fine salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

Extra virgin olive oil to taste

PREPARATION

To prepare the asparagus risotto, start by cleaning the asparagus: remove the hardest part of the asparagus with your hands, which you will use for the broth. Cut off the tips of the asparagus which will be used to garnish the risotto and cut the rest of the asparagus into thin slices. Wash the vegetables for the broth, then cut the celery into coarse pieces, carrots and the onion. Prepare the broth: pour the vegetables into a pot, add the hard stalks of the asparagus that you have kept aside. Cover with water and, starting from cold water, cook at least half an hour from boiling. Peel and finely chop the shallot. Sauté for a few minutes with a drizzle of oil, add half of your asparagus slices, cook for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally, season with salt and cover with a ladle of broth. Now let it cook for about 5 minutes with the lid on. Then let it cool. Blanch the asparagus tips in salted water for a couple of minutes. Cool them in water and ice, so that they maintain a nice bright color and remain crisp. Meanwhile, the asparagus slices will be warm, blend them with 15 g of oil. You will have to get a smooth and nice green cream. Now you have all the components to start cooking the risotto: heat a drizzle of oil in a large pan. Toast the rice for 3-4 minutes, adding a pinch of salt. Sprinkle with the broth until the rice is covered and continue cooking, wetting as needed. Halfway through cooking, add the remaining asparagus slices and continue to cook the risotto, adding salt if necessary. Set aside a couple of tablespoons of cream. Once cooked, let it rest covered for two minutes. Stir in butter, grated cheese. Add ground pepper and a drizzle of oil and the remaining asparagus cream, stir vigorously. Serve the asparagus risotto piping hot, garnishing the plates with the asparagus tips kept aside.

PRESERVATION

Store the asparagus risotto in the refrigerator, in a tightly closed container for 2-3 days. Freezing is not recommended.

ADVICE

To understand how much asparagus stem to discard, just fold the asparagus which will break at the junction between the softest and toughest parts. If the stem is very thick, we recommend peeling it with a vegetable peeler to remove the harder outer part. I recommend blending the asparagus when cold so it doesn't darken. Do you have any leftover risotto? Au gratin in the oven with a few slices of provolone, you will get a delicious stringy flan!