Added by hoppershaun | Tue 09 Jun 2009 @ 19:44
Substitute any of the vegetables for other spring vegetables.
Ingredients
200g Arborio rice
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
half an onion, finely chopped
small glass of white wine
1 pint chicken stock
3-4 asparagus spears
1 small courgette
3-4 stringless beans
30g freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus extra to serve
2-3 knobs of butter
4 tbsp olive oil
salt and black pepper
Method
1. Heat the chicken stock in a pan to a very gentle simmer.
2. Heat 2 tbsp of the olive oil in a large pan with a knob of butter. Gently fry the garlic and onion over a medium heat, until the onion is softened and translucent.
3. Add the rice and coat with the olive oil, garlic and onion mix. Cook for a minute or so.
4. Pour in the white wine and cook until the liquid is absorbed. Once absorbed, add a ladle of the simmering stock and cook until absorbed. Continue until all of the stock is absorbed and the rice is al dente.
5. Meanwhile, cut the asparagus, stringless beans and courgette into bite size pieces. Heat the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan and then add the vegetables and cook for a 3-4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Stir the remaining knobs of butter, 30g of parmesan cheese and the cooked vegetables into the risotto. Season to taste and serve with an extra grating of parmesan.
tried this recipe or a similar one? share your tips...
I allow that asparagus comes in (late) spring. But beans, even broad beans? Courgettes? No way. Not in the UK. Not in my garden anyway. Second half of July for broad beans, September or October for climbing beans; August, September and October for courgettes (and how they pall before they're over). What appears above is surely a summer or possibly even autumn risotto. Just (17 April) made myself a risotto which I thought of as 'primavera'. The main green ingredients? Nettle tops; wild garlic (ramsons); and, from my herb patch, lovage, chives and the fag end of last year's flat-leafed parsley. The stock, extracted from the freezer, was made from the carcass of last Christmas's duck. And the first liquid to hit the arborio was some Devon farmhouse cider which has been sitting in my larder for the last five years about. The result, though I say it myself, was fantastic. It really had the freshness and vitality of 'primavera'. A beguiling combination of really fresh flavours.
even though this is ment to be nice and healthy, some chopped bacon and some grated cheese on top makes it very tastey :)
Some fresh peas would be amazing in this!