Risotto with Asparagus and Basil Purée made with fresh or frozen peas and spring asparagus!
Ingredients
(Serves 4)
Cooking Time: 40 minutes
For the risotto
1 onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons olive oil
300g Arborio rice
300ml white wine
1 litre vegetable stock
Sea salt to season
A big handful of frozen peas
(or fresh if you can get them)
200ml basil purée
100ml cream
2 teaspoons butter
20g Parmesan cheese, grated
For the asparagus
16 asparagus tips, trimmed
1 teaspoon butter
200ml vegetable stock
Garnish
Balsamic gel
10g affilla cress
how to make it…
Sweat the onion and garlic in the olive oil in a large, wide saucepan over a medium heat until soft. Turn down the heat to low and then add the rice.
Pour in the white wine and keep the heat low and allow to reduce down by more than half. Heat the stock in another saucepan. When the wine is reduced, add two small ladlefuls of stock to the rice. Stir every now and again to stop it from sticking. Add in a ladleful of stock every time the liquid reduces on the rice and continue to stir until the small white grain in the centre of the rice has disappeared and you run out of stock. Season with the sea salt to taste.
Stir in the peas, basil purée, cream and butter and cook for 1–2 minutes until the peas are heated through, stirring constantly. Finally stir in the Parmesan cheese. For the asparagus, place all the ingredients into a small saucepan and cook on a medium heat for 2–3 minutes until tender. To plate, spoon the risotto into a round cutter to hold a nice shape. Squeeze a few dots of the balsamic gel around the plate, then arrange the asparagus on top of the risotto in a criss-cross pattern
and finish with the affilla cress.
Recipe from Adrian Martin at: www.chefadrian.ie
