Asparagus: full of folic acid (Vitamin B9)
Asparagus Risotto
Ingredients
Serves 2
1 small garlic clove (finely chopped)
¼ celery stick (finely chopped)
½ medium onion (finely chopped)
½ small carrot (finely chopped)
12 asparagus spears (chopped into 1cm pieces)
Salt and pepper to taste
750ml-1lt vegetable or chicken stock (or well-seasoned water)
180gm Arborio or Carnaroli rice
A handful of parmesan cheese
1 tbsp. olive oil
Method
Heat up the stock and keep it hot. Heat up the oil in a non-stick pan (preferably) and fry gently the onion, garlic, carrot and celery for a couple of minutes. Add the asparagus, season with salt and pepper. Add the rice and stir it around for a minute. Pour in half of the stock and stir. Now the best and classic way to make a risotto is actually to keep stirring it while you pour the stock a little at a time, letting the rice absorb the liquid before you add a little more and so on until it’s cooked. But like many of you out there, I have a three year old boy to “entertain” while making the risotto! So you can increase the amount of liquid you put into the pan and stir occasionally leaving it alone for a few minutes at a time. I usually pour the stock twice and let it cook gently going back to it every 3/4 minutes. Depending on the rice though you might have to use a little more than a 1lt of stock, so if you use all your stock but your rice is still not cooked, add a little water until.
When the rice is done, check the seasoning, fold in the parmesan and serve while still very hot.
