English Pea and Asparagus Risotto

Cooking for a Crowd, Cooking for One or Two, Recipes, Worknight Dinners July 8, 2012

I really wasn’t joking when I said I was very close to breaking my three-month blog silence with a post about risotto. Specifically, english pea and asparagus risotto.

What’s even worse, it’s a spring risotto which shows you just how long I’ve had these photos sitting on my computer. That’s neither here nor there though, is it?

I moved into a new apartment at the end of March, one with a much smaller albeit more ergonomically designed kitchen.

Hazel and Amelia, two of my girlfriends, came over the night I moved in to help me get settled and organize four closets worth of crap into only two closets.

It was a process during which we drank just a little bit of wine and I will be completely honest when I tell you that when I went to make baked macaroni and cheese a few weeks later, it would have probably taken me less time to weave a colander out of straw than it took me to find the one that Amelia had carefully stacked, Tetris-style, between my mixing bowls, pots and pans.

I’ve also been working more and have been going out to eat a lot and cue every excuse in the book for why I haven’t been cooking.

I also have less space for dishes and smaller appliances and though I have enough counter space I prefer to let my coffee machine live there and you know, I could go on and on.

So, in mid-May, seduced by the farmer’s market down the street, I invited a group of girlfriends over for dinner with the express intention of dusting off my cooking implements and seeing if I still had the ability to put a meal together.

It needed to be vegetarian and I wanted to use the oven as little as possible, so I decided on risotto.

Risotto has a bad reputation for being slow and labor intensive but this recipe was fairly painless, in that it looks and tastes impressive but you won’t need to relegate yourself to the kitchen while everyone else is having a good time.

You can sub the English peas and asparagus in here for whatever vegetables look good to you, but this was a nice, fresh, spring or summer-y combination that I would make again.

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English Pea and Asparagus Risotto

Author: Maris Callahan

Recipe type: Cooking for a Crowd, Worknight Dinners, Cooking for One or Two

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 25 mins

Total time: 40 mins

Serves: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

1 bunch green onions
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 shallot, minced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
½ cup dry white wine
2 cups Arborio rice
4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
¼ cup butter, cut into pieces
2 cups fresh petite English peas
½ pound asparagus, chopped into 2-inch pieces and sautéed
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Instructions

Place green onions on a lightly greased rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 425° for 13 to 15 minutes. Chop onions, and set aside.
Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat; add shallot and garlic, and sauté 30 seconds. Stir in wine; cook, stirring constantly, 4 minutes or until wine is almost evaporated.
Add rice. Cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium; add ½ cup broth. Cook, stirring constantly, until broth is absorbed. Repeat procedure with remaining broth, ½ cup at a time. (Total cooking time is about 22 minutes.)
Stir in remaining ingredients.

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Written by

Maris Callahan

Maris Callahan has been blogging about cooking, dining and entertaining since 2008. A public relations director by day, Maris is also a brand spokesperson, freelance writer and media relations expert with more than 10 years experience working with consumer brands. She lives in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood with her boyfriend Brad, chihuahua Henry and a very well-stocked pantry.