Asparagus & wild garlic Risotto

Springtime, finally ! This is a fresh, light risotto that you will enjoy eating when the sun starts to shine back, thanks to the wild garlic, chives and lemon. Don't be fooled ; there's a generous amount of parmigiano and butter, too, but sshh, you can't really tell ! Plus, asparagus is a beauty that can only be enjoyed around 2 months a year, so rush to your farmer's market and make some damn asparagus ! Then I advise you to respect the italian basics for authentic risotto :

• no cream, just butter and parmiagiano (at the very end of the cooking process) ;
• use some onion for its sweetness, and a glass of white wine to bring some welcome acidity ;
• toast your rice in the pan before adding your liquids ;
• add your broth one ladle at a time, to let the rice release all its starch and make the creamiest risotto ;
• try to use a holed spoon (risotto spoon), which will allow you to stir your risotto frequently (you don't want it to stick to the bottom of your pan) without crushing it. ;
• please taste regularly once you reach the 15mn mark.

Asparagus & wild garlic Risotto - Recipe

Ingredients - Advice & key points

All your produce for this recipe should be easy to find, provided you're doing it at springtime !

• Rice : It is very important to use risotto-appropriate rice. The three most common varieties are :
  • Carnaroli rice, the king of risotto rices ; use it if you can ;
  • Arborio rice, which is the second best choice, and more widespread than Carnaroli ;
  • Vialone Nano, which cooks up more quickly than carnaroli (eg easy to overcook), and yields very creamy risotto.
• Asparagus : We're using the green kind here ! I wouldn't recommend using the white one in a risotto. Besides, I peeled them here, but you can do without, especially if your asparagus is not dehydrated (it can become fibrous if it was harvested a while ago). However, I recommend you to remove the bottom part of the asparagus anyway, as it is usually quite rough and fibrous.
• Wild garlic : You should be able to find some at springtime, but if you don't, just add more chives !
• Vegetable broth : The broth here imparts a lot of flavour, so I highly recommend you either buy a quality one or do it yourself. I almost always do it myself, using veggies scraps that I gradually add to a plastic bag in my freezer. When you need some broth, just throw them in some water with a bit of salt, 2 bay leaves, a few sprigs of thyme, and an hour later, you get a delicious homemade broth !

Risottos don't reheat very well, but I tend to do it anyway by adding leftovers +a splash of stock (2-3 tbsp) to a pot or nonstick pan on medium-low heat. The taste will not be as bright and fresh as the first time, but it is still a quick and nice meal to have. Now come and cook !