Spring Risotto

a paradox of lightness and richness

It’s easy to forget that ingredients have seasons, nay, they’ve designed it that way (I’m talking about the supermarket overlords). But with all of humankind’s knowledge now in the palm of our hands, it's never been easier to know what’s in season and when. This matters for two reasons; the first is, when you eat seasonally you get more nutritionally rich produce and secondly, because of the abundance of supply, the cost drops. Cheaper food that also provides more for me? Yes please! I’m specifically talking about asparagus here, but as we all know - they are available year round in almost all supermarkets, this is convenient, but also damaging to eating / cooking intuitively and with the fruits of our actual land.

Right now the asparagus are in season, they are on the younger side of their season - and as a result are super skinny - they’re very cute. This risotto celebrates them and their awesomeness right now.

The key to this dish is knowing this one little thing I was taught in culinary school. Cooking greens with acid makes them brown, to avoid this - I blanch my asparagus in my risotto broth, ice bath them to lock in color and texture. I then cut off the last 1/2- 1” of the asparagus spears and set them aside as garnish, they bodies of the asparagus are blended in a food processor with herbs, this becomes the last liquid stage of the risotto process. I hope you enjoy it - it’s so easy and so delicious.

Things to keep in mind:

1, I find it takes about 7 liquid additions of broth to get the risotto to the right doneness, after that I add the green blend for color and a little more broth for consistency.

2, As risotto cools, it congeals slightly. Always serve it 5-10% more fluidious (yes I made that word up) than you think it should be, it will tighten up. A hot plate retards this inevitability. Anything that results in a mound of risotto is far too tight, it should flow like lava and sit flat on your plate.

3, Because risotto isn’t washed before it’s cooked - all the starch remains in the dish, this is why 2/3 cup of risotto is more than enough for 2 people. All that starch, all that butter and cheese, it’s a lot - you’ll see.

Spring Risotto for two…

Ingredients:

1/2 bunch of spring asparagus

1 spring onion, thinly sliced

2/3 cup arborio rice

10 spring chives

1/2c basil leaves

1/4c mint leaves

1.5 quarts water

veggie scraps (for broth)

bullion or similar

10 black peppercorns

bay leaf

3 tbsp butter

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (plus a cup of water)

zest of 1 lemon

parmigiano 1 cup

Equipment

ladle

pot for broth

pot for risotto

fine mesh strainer that will fit inside the broth pot 

immersion blender with the mini processor attachment (or a food processor)

microplane

wooden spoon

Steps

Bring the water to a boil, add the aromatics and savory ingredients of your choosing. Keep the broth at a light simmer throughout the cooking process.

In the sauce pan, over medium heat, add half the butter and finely sliced spring onions, greens and all. Saute for about 3 minutes then add the rice, toast the rice while stirring for 2 minutes.

Add the vinegar and a ladle of the broth. stir and let gently simmer until the broth has evaporated off, then continue by adding just enough broth to cover the rice - usually need to do this about seven times to reach al dente rice.

Prepare the asparagus, discard the bottom final inch.

Place the asparagus into the strainer, and lower them into the simmering broth. blanch for 2-4 minutes (depending on thickness) then remove and ice bath for extra green color retention.

Cut off the spears and save them for garnish, place the bodies of the asparagus into the food processor, with the basil, mint 3 tbsp of water and a pinch of salt. Blend until smooth.

When the rice is cooked, but still firm, add the asparagus puree and the whole spears  to the rice. stir well for 2 minutes, then shut off the heat.

Add the remaining butter, the cheese and stir until melted and incorporated. Adjust for thickness with more broth, looking for flow not clumps.  Serve with the chives and lemon zest on top.     

If you’re looking for a quick less than one minute visual recipes on this dish, here it is:

frankiecooks

A post shared by Frankie Celenza (@frankiecooks)