We've developed along the years a real liking for risottos. There are infinite ways & variations to do them, with veggies, seafood, meat, etc... They're simple and yet complex, needing only a few good ingredients and a good dose of skill. Because it's now aspargus time in Finland - as restaurants adds everywhere can testify - we decided to do a "Risotto agli asparagi".
The one important thing for risottos is the stoke. The better the stoke, the tastier the rice. And in the same way, the thiner the green aspargus are, the better. (and the thicker the white aspargus the better) So, we cut roughly 1/3 of the green aspargus (the heads) that we pre-cooked in a steamer basket for a few min. just for them to be still crunchy, and reserved them on a plate. Then we made a stoke with the aspargus butts, a carrot, an onion, salt and pepper, and let it simmer for 15min.
In a cast iron casserole, we gently fried an onion and some chopped garlic in a mix of olive oil and butter. When soft, the rice was added, and stirred for a few min. then, a glass of dry white wine, and the hot aspargus stoke, little by little. The tricky part is to stir the rice with a wooden spoon to make it creamy, but not too much, otherwise it would become muddy. When the rice was almost done, the aspargus heads were added, and let finish to cook in it. A the end, a few pieces of cold butter were also added and quickly mixed, as well as salt and white pepper to balance the taste.
There you have it: Risotto agli asparagi. The rice is not too compact, neither too runny. Just the right creaminess. Once served in hot plates, it must be eaten quickly. Useless to say, the cost of doing it at home isn't the same as eating it in a restaurant. That is, if you can find in town an italian restaurant doing that kind of rice dish.
With the risotto, we steamed for 2/3 min. these pieces of cod with lemon peels on top. They give a nice lemony flavor to the fish.
The wine comes from Alko.
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