Hey everyone!

This week, I kept thinking to myself and wondering what I should cook. Pastries, meat, pasta, vegetables? I was comparing and debating each of them, when luckily, my mom told me that she had just gotten a recipe for Risotto.

Now what is Risotto you ask? I have no idea; well, at least I had no idea until I made it. The type of Risotto I made is basically Arborio rice with cheese, asparagus and many spices. If you don’t like asparagus, try it with other vegetables. You might want to check out another recipe for amounts though.

What really convinced me to making this dish, though, was the cheese. I love eating it (my family used to call me the cheese head), and I especially love to cook with it. So when I heard this was a cheese dish, I had to try it.

Be warned though, this Risotto is one of the more complex recipes that has been featured on Scrambled. It involves a little bit of coordination of cooking, chopping and mixing. After the first few minutes of chaos, though, it will all work out. Well, at least it did for me.

Asparagus Risotto:

1 lbs thin asparagus with tough ends snapped off and reserved, spears cut into 1/2inch lengths
3 1/2 cups chicken stock
4 tbs butter
1 medium onion, diced fine
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups Arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1 lemon cut into wedges
1 tbs minced fresh mint pepper

1. Bring the tough asparagus ends, stock and 3 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 15 minutes. Strain broth and discard the asparagus ends. Put broth back on lowest heat.
2. Melt butter in 4 quart saucepan. Once the foaming subsides, add onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and cook over medium heat stirring occasionally. Cook until onion is soft and translucent, about 9 minutes.
3. Add rice and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until kernel edges are transparent, for about 4 minutes. Add wine and cook until wine is completely absorbed, about 2 minutes.
4. Add 3 cups of warm stock, and stir infrequently until stock is completely absorbed. Add sliced asparagus. Again, add 1/2 cups stock at a time, as needed to keep the bottom of the pan from drying. Stir frequently until rice is thoroughly cooked. Stir in parmesan cheese, lemon zest and mint. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm.

Remember, just have fun, and if it doesn’t work out, feed it to your pet or younger sibling and try again!