Why I love risotto

I discovered risotto only about a year ago. The BF was making dinner and he made an asparagus risotto that was unbelievable. So creamy, so comforting...I couldn't believe it was rice! Don't get me wrong, I like rice pudding, but this was a savory dish, and it was better than any pasta I'd ever had. Since then I've made it myself-once. It was great then too, and tonight I decided to make a very simple risotto almost without a recipe. I knew that for 3 cups of Arborio rice I'd need 6 cups of chicken stock (I used about a cup and a half of water and 4 and a half of stock). I chopped about 3/4 cup of onion and one large clove of garlic and sauteed it with 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oil while the broth came to a simmer. I poured in a dash of white wine with the onions--just about 1/4 cup for flavor, if that much. I added in the rice and stirred the onions, garlic and rice for a few minutes, then started adding the broth one ladle full at a time. I set the timer for 22 minutes so I would make sure to cook it long enough.

In the meantime, between ladling in broth, stirring, letting it absorb the liquid and adding another ladle full I: defrosted about 1 cup of green peas to add at the end of the cooking time. I also got out some asparagus, cut off the bottom 1/3 of the spears, drizzled them with olive oil, added salt and stuck them in a 400 degree oven for about 23 minutes (longer if the stems are thick).

The risotto started to get a little thicker and I could tell it was growing in the pan. I was halfway through and did a taste test: good, but it needed salt and certainly wasn't tender enough yet. I added about 1/4 tsp salt. (I was using unsalted chicken broth). I also added about 1/2 tsp coarse ground pepper.

The broth was nearing its end...I added one more ladle full and stirred. As the liquid started to absorb, I added in the green peas and let the risotto cook for another minute or two before adding one last bit of liquid (like a quarter of a ladle full). I stirred again and measured out 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese. As I turned off the heat I added in the cheese. As I stirred you could see the whole dish come together--the creamy consistency formed and it seemed to be calling to me!

My asparagus spears were crunchy at the tip and sweetly salty through and through. And, as you can tell from the picture, I really really enjoyed my risotto tonight. I finished this bowl too!