Asparagus Risotto

Continuing my cooking spree, I made a simple asparagus risotto last night to eat with the leftover chicken. Aside from all the stirring, this basic recipe was very easy to whip up, offering lots of flavor bang for the buck. Will definitely keep in rotation although I'm fairly sure I can improvise from here.

Perhaps more exciting than the risotto was the fact that I finally coerced Ryan into attending a yoga class with me. Yes my poor husband (who can barely touch his knees let alone his feet) struggled his way through an hour and a half of intense bending and conditioning poses. At first, I couldn't help but giggle to myself when I saw Ryan's downward dog (which looked more like a downward crumpled C than an inverted V), but slowly I could see him getting into it and pushing his body to open up a bit. I was so proud at the end of class when he managed to get into an upward wheel! Hopefully, some yoga will be good for his stress and maybe Ryan will continue to do it at least once a week.

Asparagus Risotto
Courtesy of SimpleRecipes.com

1 pound asparagus
3 Tbsp plus 1 teaspoon butter
1/2 cup chopped shallots
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine (or 1 Tbsp lemon juice and 1/4 cup water)
About 3 1/2 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock for vegetarian option), can substitute some of the asparagus cooking water for stock
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper

Prepare the asparagus by breaking off discarding the tough ends (about the last inch of the spear). Cut into 1 to 1 1/2-inch pieces (tips longer, base shorter). If your asparagus are especially large, cut into even smaller (bite-size) pieces. Bring a saucepan with a quart of water to a boil. Blanch the asparagus pieces for 2 minutes. At the end of two minutes, use a slotted spoon to remove the asparagus pieces to an ice water bath to shock the asparagus into a vibrant green color and to stop the cooking. Drain from the ice water bath and set aside.

In a 3 or 4 quart saucepan, heat 3 Tbsp butter on medium heat. Add the shallots and cook for a few minutes until translucent. Add the rice and cook for 2 minutes more, stirring until nicely coated. While the shallots are cooking, bring the stock to a simmer in a saucepan.

Add the wine. Slowly stir, allowing the rice to absorb the wine. Once the wine is almost completely absorbed, add 1/2 cup of stock to the rice. Continue to stir until the liquid is almost completely absorbed, adding more stock in 1/2 cup increments. Stir often to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Continue cooking and stirring rice, adding a little bit of broth at a time, cooking and stirring until it is absorbed, until the rice is tender, but still firm to the bite, about 15 to 20 minutes. Gently stir in the Parmesan cheese, the remaining 1 teaspoon butter, and the asparagus. Add salt and pepper to taste.

And I end this post with a picture of the husband buried under cats: