Spring Asparagus Risotto

thugkitchen.com

I hopped by Publix yesterday and scanned my food pinboard for something to make. I saw this recipe and remembered that I had some a-spare-agus (spare asparagus) in the fridge. It was fate. I'd never made risotto before, in fact I've only ever eaten it once, but it looked good so that was that.

For anyone who's not familiar with Thug Kitchen, it's a guy (I assume) who's not vegan, but his girlfriend is, and he "supports that shit." He makes delicious, easy vegan recipes that you won't even mind eating if you're not vegan. I feed Thug Kitchen's food to my meat-loving fiance, G, and he gobbles it up.

(Full disclosure, G is what some people -- not he or I --  might call a flexatarian. I'm pescetarian and I often make meat-free dishes, which he is more than happy to eat. He'll even buy fake meat if he's cooking. He's the best.)

So anyway, here's my first attempt at risotto-making. Click the picture at the top of the page for the full recipe and instructions.

Spring Asparagus Risotto

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup chopped shallots or yellow onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup Arborio rice*
½ cup white wine
¼ teaspoon salt
4 ½ cups vegetable broth
1 bunch asparagus, about 1 pound
½ teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon olive oil
¼ cup minced chives
pepper to taste

TK's recipe calls for a shallot or yellow onion. I decided to go for the shallot, but as I am still learning about anything that isn't called "onion," (I was raised in Podunk, NC and we don't have fancy shit like that) I bought the wrong thing. I bought scallions.

Scallions and shallots have really similar names, amirite? How am I supposed to keep up with all these different types of onions when they all start with S and have a double-L?

So we had scallions in our risotto.

#yolo

The recipe also calls for white wine. I had to Google that to find out which ones are good for cooking. Hurray, Sauvignon blanc!

I was pretty surprised that this $5.99 bottle of wine had a cork. Fancy.

After I add the wine to the pan, TK's instructions are clear: "Drink the rest of the wine because… well, that shits already open. Might as well."

Wine in hand, I pour in the broth, let it sit a while, stir a bit...

TK: "Just stir it every minute or two while you clean up or troll the internet."

 Done.

On that note, is anyone else really into the Kim Kardashian Hollywood game? I'm all over it. I've managed to get by with only spending $4 on it so far, but who knows what will happen. I might need some new shoes.

So anyway, I add the asparagus.

Lookin' good.

Making this recipe was quite easy. I was kind of unsure about cooking rice, uncovered, in approximately 20 minutes, but apparently Arborio rice is different.

It came out really well. G was impressed, saying that often, people overcook risotto and it becomes mushy. But this one was spot on. The scallions made no difference, but next time I make it I'll get the right thing and maybe it'll take this dish to a whole new level.

G said he'd prefer less lemon zest next time, but he always says that. I didn't think it had too much. I think lemon zest really improves stuff like this that has that "soup" flavor. He also whined when I told him there wasn't any more, if that tells you anything.