Asparagus, Mint & Gorgonzola Risotto by Cherry Menlove

What you will need for this recipe:

2 tablespoons of olive oil

200g of risotto rice

1 pint of vegetable stock

125g of fresh asparagus

A large pinch or grinding of ground black pepper

15g of finely chopped fresh mint

4 tablespoons of water

75g of gorgonzola cheese

It’s Tuesday so I’m back in the kitchen and here’s a recipe that I think you’ll love!

Asparagus, Mint & Gorgonzola Risotto
I could eat risotto every day of my life. I could eat it out of the pan with a spoon and never actually serve it up on to a plate. I cook risottos at least once a week and have taught myself to rustle one up with odds and ends that are left over in the fridge or cupboard. This one however I thought long and hard about.

I wanted a new recipe that not only brought out the flavours of the wonderful asparagus that is currently at its best but also something that has the devourer saying “What is that I can taste? I can’t put my finger on it!”
I tussled with creating a recipe that had both fresh mint and a strong melted cheese in it but it worked out and is now a dish that I’ll be having with my own family whenever asparagus season rolls around again. To be honest we had it last night and I still want another portion.

This dish serves four adults and takes about thirty minutes from start to finish. You can find a weight conversion chart here!

Method

Heat the olive oil in a non-stick risotto pan on a gentle heat. Don’t allow the oil to burn or smoke. Add the rice and stir in to the heated oil. Allow the oil to coat the rice and heat it a little until the rice is made almost translucent by the oil.
Gently pour in about a fifth of the stock to the pan, stirring constantly, allow the rice to begin to soften in the stock. After a few minutes when the stock is beginning to dry up in the pan add another fifth and continue stirring.
With the pan still on a gentle heat cut the asparagus spears in to halves and add to the pan. Keep an eye on the stock levels and if it starts to look like the pan is drying up add some more. Keeping it moving and not allowing it to come anywhere near close to burning dry.
With your eye on the pan and stirring when you can, chop the mint up very finely. It’s important that it is as fine as you can manage as large mint leaves are not nice to chew on. Add the mint to the pan, along with the ground black pepper, and continue to stir. Continuing to add the stock little by little until it is all gone.
If at this time when you taste the rice it is still a wee bit crunchy but all of the stock has been used then feel free to add a tablespoon of water. I ended up adding four tablespoons of water as my rice took longer to cook than expected. I was pleased about this though as I realised it was because I had the pan on such a low, simmering heat. This gave the risotto a magnificent texture and was worth the extra time and stirring.
When you have tasted the rice and feel that it is past the crunchy stage, a teeny bit ‘al dente’ and not yet soggy then you’ll know it’s ready to serve. At this point cut the cheese up in to smallish cubes and add to the pan. Continue to stir the cheese into the risotto until it has completely melted.
Serve IMMEDIATELY!!!!!

I’m so happy that things are starting to seem like normal around here again after our move. Robert the Husband and I are finding a daily pattern again and although we have no television and STILL no broadband I have been able to do more in the garden in a short space of time than I ever managed before.

I’m not sure I can convince Robert not to hook the television up again but it would appear that my addiction has been transferred from an evening of Grey’s Anatomy to picking caterpillars off of my roses by hand.

*sigh*

What a saddo!

See you again tomorrow morning when I’ll show you exactly what the trouble I have been making in the garden actually looks like.

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