I love asparagus. I love risotto. So I thought combining the two would be easy and delicious. I used a recipe from Bon Appétit, just to make sure I knew what I was doing. Well, my poor “asparagus risotto” ended up looking more like asparagus soup with rice. Sigh. It still tasted good though…
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds asparagus
5 cups (about) canned low-salt chicken broth
1 cup water
1 tablespoon butter
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups arborio rice or medium-grain white rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup whipping cream
Fresh rosemary sprigs (optional)
Begin by prepping your asparagus. Trim off the tough ends from the asparagus and discard. Cut off the asparagus tips and place in a bowl. Cut the stalks into ¾ inch pieces and place in another bowl.
Place 2/3 of stalk pieces, 1 cup broth and 1 cup water in blender (note: I would only use 1 cup broth, no water).
Puree until smooth and set aside. Chop your onion. I used large pieces, but I think the smaller the pieces, the better. Melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until tender, about 8 minutes.
Add rice and stir for 1 minute.
Add the wine and cook until absorbed, stirring often, about 2 minutes. Add ½ cup broth and the chopped rosemary. Simmer until liquid is absorbed.
Continue to cook for an additional 15 minutes, adding more broth by the ½ cupfuls and allowing liquid to fully absorb before adding more. Stir often.
Add remaining asparagus stalk pieces and reserved asparagus tips and continue cooking rice until it’s tender and creamy, about 10 more minutes. Add extra broth if needed.
Add reserved asparagus puree until absorbed, about 3 minutes. (Note: 3 minutes? Ha. After 12 minutes I just gave up.)
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| Asparagus soup? |
Stir in Parmesan and cream. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with rosemary sprigs if desired.
So, I’m guessing that cutting out the water in the puree may help a bit. I also think it might work to slowly add the puree by the ½ cupfuls versus dumping the whole thing in at once. Despite how ugly it is, it did taste good. If anyone tries this out and manages to make it look aesthetically pleasing, please let me in on your secret!
I have a PHENOMENAL risotto recipe with asparagus and peas that I will get to you. All the risotto recipes I know of instruct you to add only a 1/4 cup of cooking liquid at a time – you wait for it to be fully absorbed before adding anymore, qhich is why risotto takes so long to prepare. I don’t have the patience to make risotto very often.
Risotto can be tough, but what a great combination of flavors! I posted a risotto recipe about a month ago on my blog that seems to be no-fail in terms of consistency.