Fresh Asparagus Risotto

Ingredients:  Serves 4 as a main course and 6-8 as a first course

• Approx. 1 litres fresh vegetable stock (available in Waitrose)

• 2 shallots, finely chopped• 2 sticks of celery, finely chopped

• 300g lightly cooked fine asparagus, refreshed in iced water - cut at an angle into 25cm lengths

• 400g *Carnaroli risotto rice (Do not wash the rice) 

• 250ml of dry white wine

• Sea salt and cracked black pepper

• 70g butter plus extra knob

• 100g freshly grated Parmesan cheese plus shavings to garnish • Lemon infused oil to serve (optional)

Method:

1. Bring the vegetable stock to the boil and keep hot.

2. In a heavy based sauce pan, cook the shallot and celery without colour over a gentle heat in the butter. Turn up the heat, add the risotto rice and stir well to coat in the butter for one minute until looks slightly translucent. Turn down the heat to medium and add the wine; once it has cooked into the rice start adding the hot stock a ladle at a time. You will want the stock to adsorb into the rice so don’t have the heat up too high. You will hear when it needs more stock, just listen for it to slightly sizzle, and then add more stock, remembering to keep stirring all the time. This will bring the starch out of the rice and give the risotto a lovely creamy texture.

3. When the rice is almost cooked, this will take around 15 minutes, taste and carry on adding stock until the rice is soft and creamy with a slight bite. (If you run out of stock before the rice is cooked, you can use hot water).

4. Gently stir in the asparagus. Remove from the heat and gently stir in the extra knob of butter and the parmesan to taste. Now carefully check the seasoning and consistency adding more stock if necessary (the risotto should slightly settle when you gently shake the plate). Allow to stand for five minutes and serve garnished with a few parmesan shavings.

5. For an extra zing you can drizzle the plated risotto with a little lemon-infused oil

6. You can now either re-heat the soup and serve or refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze in portions, for up to a month.

*Carnaroli is the king of risotto rice from Vercelli, the middle of the Po flats. The rice is high in starch and can absorb liquid for a long time while remaining
'al dente' and is wonderfully creamy.