Creamy Pea and Asparagus Risotto
You may have noticed that I’m really addicted to asparagus and I also love making risotto (it’s one of my favourite dishes to make). This time though, I wanted to make something a little more special and a little more green so I decided to add some peas to my usual asparagus risotto not only for the color but also for the delicate flavour.
Making this risotto might look hard but it’s extremely easy and there aren’t many ways to mess it up if you respect the cooking time of the risotto and don’t add too much water while cooking. If at the end of the cooking time you feel like your risotto is too liquid try cooking it at very high heat for 1 minute and adding some more parmesan - this way the liquid should evaporate faster and the parmesan will also help with the consistency.
As a decoration I added some radish, mint and asparagus tips but you can go crazy and add whatever you want (walnuts are also a delicious option).
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cooking Time: 20 Minutes
Ingredients for 2 portions:
Carnaroli Rice - 180g
White Onion - 1 medium
White Wine - 50mL
Vegetable Broth - 1L
Asparagus - 300g
Peas - 100g (we used frozen peas)
Parmesan - 200g
Optional:
Taleggio Cheese - 70g
Preparation:
Let's start making our creamy pea and asparagus risotto by cutting the onion in small pieces and washing and cutting our asparagus (make sure you cut the ends off). Cut it 2/3 times lengthwise, not too short not too long.
Bring some water to boil and add some salt. Once the water is boiling add the asparagus for 2/4 minutes depending on how thick it is. Remove it from the water and put on the side.
Take a pan and heat some olive oil. Add the peas and some salt and cook them for around 3 minutes, put them in a bowl. Take the same pan and add your asparagus and some salt and cook for around 3 minutes as well. Place the asparagus in the same bowl as the peas (leave some asparagus tips on the side for decoration).
Take a hand blender and mix your asparagus/peas well until you get a nice liquid. Leave on the side.
Grate some parmesan and leave it on the side.
Heat up your vegetable broth in a small pot so that it is ready for when you cook the rice.
Take a cooking pot and start by heating some oil and throwing the onions in. Once you have cooked the onions for around 2-3 minutes add the rice and stirring regularly let it cook for around 1 minute. Next, add the white wine and stir until it has evaporated.
Once the wine has evaporated you can start adding vegetable broth - always add enough broth to cover the rice but never too much. You will keep stirring and adding water, letting the rice cook for around 15 to 20 minutes (depending on what it says on the package, most risottos are ready in 20-22 minutes).
It’s important to never stop stirring when making risotto in order for it not to get stuck to the bottom of the pan.
When the risotto has been cooking for around 5 minutes add the asparagus/ pea liquid. Keep stirring, you can even add water if you feel like the risotto is drying up. Keep tasting the risotto and add salt and pepper if you feel like they are missing.
When the risotto is almost ready (5 min to go) add the Taleggio cheese cut into big chunks and the parmesan. Keep stirring and keep adding stock if necessary.
Once the 15 to 20 minutes have passed your risotto will be ready for plating (always use a flat plate for risotto). Drizzle the some more parmesan on top and add the asparagus tips and voilà :)