Asparagus Risotto

Asparagus is probably my favorite vegetable. If it is not my favorite it is probably sharing the first place with eggplant. Eggplant is pretty awesome as well but all of the flash lights are facing towards asparagus today. I just love the creamy and the fibrous texture of a vivid and fresh asparagus. The only sad thing is that you can only eat them in April or May. I am not talking about the canned version here. You know, the ones that swim in salty water, the ones that probably look like asparagus but is completely different as taste from the fresh asparagus. 

The first time I had asparagus was when my mom cooked it after she came from a trip to Germany in spring. I didn't know that it was very popular in Germany. I also didn't know that kind of a vegetable existed. She just boiled them and then gave it a toss with butter and some lemon juice in a pan. It was yummy. So you can also cook the asparagus this way. 

Weird fact: In Turkish asparagus literally means "birds don't land". It means that birds do not land on this vegetable. Maybe it is too spiky for birds to land on. Or maybe because of something that we have no idea about. 

I always cook the asparagus like my mom does. But I was bored and bored of the same style and I was craving for a creamy risotto. So I thought why not? I had absolutely no idea about the outcome of the dish but it turned out to be pretty amazing. So here is the recipe for a creamy asparagus risotto. 

Note: If you want to cook it for vegetarians, just use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock. It will work well. 

Makes risotto for 2-3 people. 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter, 

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 cup arborio rice (do not rinse it under water, never ever do this when cooking risotto)

1/4 cup white wine

250 g. asparagus, trimmed, bottom parts cut off

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Salt and freshly grounded black pepper

Directions:

1)  Boil some water in a pot. Add generous amount of salt. Then start to prepare the asparagus.

2)  Slice the asparagus into 1 finger long pieces. Save the woody bottom parts. Some recipes say that you can get rid of those but we want to use that amazing flavor in the stock. So save them for a very good purpose that will be very helpful later.  When your asparagus are ready, put them into the oven and then them to the boiling water. Boil them for about 3-4 minutes until they are tender. When the asparagus are cooked, drain them and transfer to an ice bath. (In the photo you'll see the cooked asparagus. I forgot to slice them before I boiled them. Sorry. But both ways are okay for the recipe)

3) Dice the onion and the garlic. Add some olive oil into a deep skillet. Then add the onions and the garlic and sauté them until they are cooked.

4) In another pot, heat the chicken stock.  Add the bottom parts of the asparagus to the stock.

5) Add the rice to the skillet and then give it a stir until the rice is coated well with the oil and they are mixed well with the onions. 

6)  Pour the white wine. When the wine is evaporated start adding the chicken stock one scoop at a time.  Continue this until the rice is cooked. If you run out of chicken stock, you can always add hot water. 

7) Add in the pre-cooked asparagus to the pan. (and do not forget to take a photo with the leftover chicken stock in the jar and the flying ninja knife)

8) When the rice is cooked, add in a tablespoon of butter some chopped basil and a generous amount of parmesan cheese.

9) Serve with more parmesan cheese and freshly ground black pepper.

If you have leftovers these make great arancini.

Enjoy.