Asparagus risotto with frico, Parmesan crisps, is insanely flavoursome and tasty, which pays off for the tedium of stirring and stirring.
Risotto is about stirring
Making a good risotto is tricky: the proportion of liquid to rice, when to add on the add-ons, how to score the precise result between tough grains and a slop bucket, whether to use a wooden spoon or a whisk in the absence of the magical girariso and how much butter it REALLY needs.
There are recipes around for oven baked risottos, all-in-at-once risottos, boil the rice like pasta risottos but frankly, they are not the genuine article. Obviously, I’ve not tested all those recipes but my gut feeling and my half-Italian spouse tell me they are not autentico.
So if I embark upon a Milanese or a primavera, it means stirring, stirring and stirring.
My goodness, is it boring!
It must be the most boring dish in the whole wide world, some elaborate cheffy sauces aside. Stir, stir, slop, slop, ladle. And again. And again for at least 25 minutes since I don’t believe a good result may be achieved sooner, unless with a boil-in-the-bag instead of Carnaroli.
It’s amazing how long that feels when all you do is go round and round the pan. You can’t even multitask for fear of missing the next ladle moment. You’re just stuck there over the hob for almost half an hour.
I admit, the result justifies the effort. A good risotto, including the one below which is a variety of primavera, is molto rewarding.
But after cooking one I usually really fancy watching some paint dry for entertainment.
How to prepare asparagus
The flavour is the best thing about it so make sure you get its every single molecule out of asparagus. In order to do that reserve the ends that you’ve either snapped off or cut off, depending on the asparagus school you represent.
When cooking your homemade stock or heating up shop-bought, even from a stock cube, add the spear ends and let them simmer in the liquid. It will make all the difference.
The rest of the spears need to be sliced, except the very tips which will be added at the end, so keep them separate.
What is soffritto?
Risotto is all about stirring as I succinctly explained earlier. The stock should be kept on a simmer at all time, and the start to the dish is soffritto.
The classic Italian mix of finely diced vegetables that is the base for all kinds of sauces, is carrot, celery and onion.
I’m not being orthodox in my recipe but I don’t want orange bits in my green risotto, and celery is just wasteful: buying a whole bunch just to use one rib and the rest languishes in the fridge forever.
Plus, one sweet onion and a little garlic is perfectly sufficient: not detracting from the asparagus flavour while coating and helping to cook the rice.
How to start off cooking risotto?
Butter and olive oil is my choice for risotto, for the flavour. Soffritto, in this case just onion and garlic, needs to be cooked gently until softened but not coloured.
Rice - Carnaroli or Arborio, don’t stint on that – goes in then and this is when stirring starts. Cook the rice until it’s hot enough to start hissing viciously in the pan which is when we hit it with a small glass of wine or vermouth. It will go ‘whooosh!’ impressively and boil off in seconds.
And now is when the tedious but necessary stirring begins in all seriousness.
When to add asparagus?
The stock should be added by a ladleful, stirring the rice in between additions and waiting until the previous one is absorbed.
Risotto usually requires about four times the volume of rice to liquid. After about twenty minutes of stirring and ladling, when more than half of the stock is gone and the rice has swollen up considerably, the chopped asparagus may go in.
A couple of ladlefuls later it’s time to taste the rice, as obviously vegetables contain a bit of water too so not all the stock may need to be used up. The rice should be almost tender, with a tiny bite at the centre which will soften off the hob.
How to finish asparagus risotto?
At this point the essential risotto ingredients go in: butter and grated Parmesan.
Beat them in with your wooden spoon until absorbed. Seasoning should be checked, with black pepper ground in and salt to taste.
Finely chopped herbs, grated lemon zest and the reserved asparagus tips will finish the work, but make sure you let the risotto rest, covered, at least five minutes before serving.
Parmesan crisps
These are by all means optional… seriously? Who am I kidding? Cheesy crisps are never knowingly refused, especially as they are so easy to make, with actually the risotto optional, ha ha.
Cheesy crisps are called frico in Italy and they are simply mounds of grated cheese, Parmesan or another hard cheese baked on a sheet of parchment. Dangerously moreish!
More risotto recipes
Mushroom risotto made with dried, rehydrated porcini and masses of Parmesan and butter is a royal feast. I love it just with a green salad.
Black rice risotto cooked Italian style, with poached pear quarters and gobbets of blue cheese, is the best way to enjoy the black or purple, ‘forbidden’ rice variety.
Spelt risotto with pearled spelt grain and dried porcini mushrooms is a gorgeous vegetarian dish: wholesome, flavoursome and effortless.
More asparagus recipes
Fresh green asparagus cooked gently in butter, served with some shavings of Parmesan, make a delicious spring treat. To snap or not to snap the ends, make sure you cook them quickly and get them as local and fresh as possible.
Spicy stir fried asparagus, cooked in a wok with chillies, ginger and garlic, is a great starter or a side dish bursting with Asian flavours.
Scallops and asparagus stir fry. Use good value frozen queen scallops for this dish, they will come into their own anyway against the background of perfectly cooked aubergines and asparagus.