This is risotto primavera. So the beginning of every risotto we ever make starts with onions
so I'm going to use two onions. Okie dokie. So in a pan we'll go in with some olive oil,
we want to fry the onions now. This is one of my favorite veggies of all time. This is where
it went into the ground it's a bit more woody here. So if you just bend the asparagus... See
where it just cracked? And if I take four or five... see how they all do it at different
levels? So what I've got here is 1.2 litres of lovely veggie stock. Those stalks that I've sort
of taken to one side I'm not going to throw that away okay because that is full of flavour. So if
I just get these stalks and sort of crush them. So I just crack them so they release that flavour
even more and that goes into the stock. Then back to the asparagus. The most prized piece are these
tips. We'll chop the tips off right here for kind of, let's call it garnish right so we can see it,
and we don't want to overcook it. However this bit, like that's full of flavour. So I'm going
to finely slice this now. This is what's going to give the risotto most of its flavour. So just fry
this off now for about five to ten minutes until they're all really really soft and it's nice and
tasty. So in the meantime I'm going to prep some mint. So what I do is I just take off the bigger
leaves here and put them to one side and then the small cute leaves I'm going to save for garnish.
And then the stalks we can get those in the stock. So into the stock they go. And then look this has
softened up beautiful. Now we're going to go in with the risotto rice. You know for me I reckon
every house should have a packet of this right, just sitting there waiting because you know,
risotto is one of those things that most people love. So you want about 300 grams
of beautiful risotto rice in there and we'll stir that into the onions and the asparagus. So
if you just fry that risotto rice off a little bit it starts to go translucent. We're going
to start adding the stock, ladle at a time. So I'll use a little sieve just to catch any bits
and you can see frying straight away. We'll stir it in and then once it's gone we'll add some more.
And that's the recipe, basically you add the stock bit by bit and once it's mainly cooked away
then you add some more. If you look in the pan you can see how it's already starting to get
creamy. In about 18 minutes that rice will be cooked. So I'm using something completely not
Italian which is a cottage cheese. So the parmesan is our authentic friend.
Another great product by the way, absolutely brilliant. So I'm going to grate some of that.
So definitely the fine side of the grater. Back over here,
wow smells so good. Now when it comes to the rest of the mint here what I love to
do is just gather it up and sort of just roll it up and then we're going to finely slice it.
Okay so we're about 16 minutes in and I've added nearly most of the stock. So I'm going
to go in with the asparagus tips. So the theory there is that we get all the flavour
all the sweetness from the stalks, really really nice. So the asparagus tips go in.
So just give yourself a handful of lovely frozen peas.
And again the peas are already blanched so they don't need loads of cooking. So at this stage in
the game what I'm going to do is two things. Turn off the heat because that's done. I'll just put a
nice bit of extra virgin olive oil in there. Then I'll go in with the cottage cheese, like that.
And then a nice handful of parmesan, and then our fresh mint. So it all goes in at the end off the
heat and then I kind of fold it in and look at the change. So although the cottage cheese is totally
not Italian the curds start to act like oozy mozzarella. So lid goes on top let it relax for
a minute or two right? Let's serve it on a nice platter. So I quite like serving these either in
the bowl if I'm going to be rustic and scruffy, or on a lovely big old platter. I'll take this off,
look at that guys it looks so good. Guys look at that texture! And try not to splash yourself
like me. Okay look at that, oozy gorgeous risotto, come on what a dish! Finish it with
those beautiful mint tips with a little bit of parmesan, what a thing let's have a little try.
Wow. It's the sweetness from the peas and the asparagus,
oh! That is spring in a mouthful with the parmesan and the little curds of cheese.
So so so so good. So what are you waiting for? Get the recipe and have a nice little cook up.