Asparagus Risotto

Classic asparagus risotto made with arborio rice, onions, stock, Parmesan cheese and fresh asparagus.

The season for asparagus always seems too short. In a blink of an eye it’s gone and you have to wait a whole year to enjoy these tasty shoots again. So when I was in Provence this past weekend I took advantage of the Uzes Market.

There were many different varieties of asparagus to choose from – white,  green, purple tipped, but for this recipe I prefered the green.  What is great about risotto is that it doesn’t over power the asparagus, but compliments it. This is quintessential Italian cooking, which is all about tasting each ingredient.

For other asparagus recipes see these links: Pumpkin Risotto Grilled Asparagus

See link ‘asparagus risotto‘ below for recipe:

ERIKA ALLISTON: ASPARAGUS RISOTTO RECIPE

RISOTTO TIPS:

1. Use the best quality short grain rice = Carnaroli. Alternatively you can use Aborio rice which may be easier to find.
2. Don’t wash the rice, or you will loose the starch which helps make the risotto creamy
3. Use the best quality Parmesan ”aged Parmigiano-Reggiano” if possible
4. Watch the rice while cooking and stir constantly
5. Do not omit the final ’mantecare’ stage – this is the last traditional step of adding butter & Parmesan to the finished risotto, giving it that deliciously rich & creamy texture.
6. Heat your bowls & serve immediately; when the risotto cools it thickens and looses its creamy quality.

Ingredients:

• 350g Carnaroli rice
• 2 small white onions
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter for onions + 5 tbls for montecare
• 60 mL white wine
• 1L vegetable stock
• 100g grated parmesan
• 350g green asparagus pieces

Preparing Asparagus:

1. Wash & dry asparagus
2. Remove the bottom woody ends, then peel the remaining bottom
3. Cut into 2cm (1 inch) pieces. Separate the tips for the rest of the asparagus – they will be added last as cook fastest

Risotto recipe:

1. Stock: first make the stock / broth = boiling the water in a kettle then add the bouillon cube.
2. Onions: finely chop. In a large skillet (frying pan) saute over medium heat with 3 tablespoons of butter, until onions are  softens and translucent.
3. Rice: add to onions and mix well.  Stir while cooking for two minutes.
4. Wine: add to rice/onions. Stir, allowing the wine to be absorbed by the rice.
5. Using a ladle, add 1 to 2 ladle’s full of hot stock to the rice. Stir slowly & consistently until it has been absorbed. Keep adding ladles of stock to the rice all the while stirring.
6. Asparagus:  When 3/4 of the stock has been used, add the asparagus (except the tips) and then finish adding the stock. Taste the rice as you cook, it is ready when it has a firm texture but not crunchy. If you prefer it a little softer you can always add a little more stock. Add asparagus tips now.
7. Mantecare: Reduce heat to low & stir in 5 tablespoons of butter, grated Parmesan & pepper to taste. Remove from the heat. The risotto should be rich, creamy &  fragrant.
8. Serve immediately in hot bowls

***NEWS: OLIVE PICKING IN PROVENCE***

We escaped the city this past weekend for a little sun & olive picking. Despite a very trying train journey… apparently booking a ticket does not automatically include a seat…. and the fact that it poured rain all of Saturday (hail was an added bonus!), we still managed to get in some quality olive picking.

After the grape harvest comes the olive season in Provence. I am always astonished by how abundant the trees are and the wide variety of olive colours… from a pale to rich green, aubergine, burgundy, black and ochre - sometimes all on the same tree!

Olive picking season: October to December (depending on the type & use of the olives)

There are more than 100 types of olives however in France one of the most popular and those that grow in our grove are picholine olives. We were a little late in the picking season this year, so many of them had shrivelled like raisons & were lighter in weight as their water had evaporated. This apparently will give us a smaller quantity of olive oil, but with a richer consistency & stronger taste.

Now the decision is weather to send them to the cooperative where they are pressed with other people’s olives, giving you a % of oil based on the number of kilos you picked. Or we may decide to use a local press, who will make the oil with only our olives – the output is smaller but in my opinion the quality is better!

{ASPERGES GRILLEES AVEC HUILE D’OLIVE ET SEL DE LA MER} With the spring time, comes the arrival of the one seasonable vegetable that is not considered a table etiquette ‘faux pas’ to eat with your finger…… ASPARAGUS  

Now the Frenchman, a true gourmand at heart, knows a good thing when he sees it. So it was to no surprise that this culinary delight was in abundance at the local Provencal farmers market last weekend. A crunchy treat for the taste-buds, excellent as a detox cleanser, the only thing to watch out for is the afteraffects of smelly pee…. my god yes I just mentioned urination in my blog post! But better safe than sorry

Moving swiftly on, I had the pleasure of eating wonderful grilled asparagus in a little tapas bar in Barcelona, and wanted to recreate the recipe. The olive oil adds flavour & visual appeal, while the grilling accentuates the natural flavours of the asparagus, while keeping the crisp texture and finished with a sprinkle of sea salt to give a little kick.

Helpful HINTS : 

• when buying asparagus, the younger, thinner variety tends to be more tender, and less prone to tough, stingy outer skin (epecially towards the bottom of the stocks)
• when cooking on the grill, place the smaller stalks towards the outer / cooler part of the pan, to cook all the asparagus evenly
• don’t over cook the asparagus, otherwise it becomes overly soft & looses its bright green colour, crunchy texture and taste!

Facts: asparagus is a member of the Lily family! It contains elements that build the kidneys, skin, bones & liver - and a positive effect on our liver = a positive effect on our moods + ability to deal with stress 

RECIPE – SWEET PEA Blog ( for 2 people)

• 30 slender asparagus stalks (approx. grams)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• sea salt
• 1L water

1. First prepare the asparagus stalks. Wash well with cold water. Remove the bottom woody part of each stalk (approx 2cm or 1 inch). Next cut each asparagus in half and set aside.
2. In a kettle boil 1L of water. Once boiled, pour into a large saucepan over medium heat (ie N° 4-5 depending on your oven). Add the asparagus and simmer for 5-6 minutes. If your asparagus stalks are larger you may need to leave them in the simmering water for an additional minute of two.
3. Pre-heat the grill ( or grill pan) to medium heat (not too hot or the asparagus will burn).
4. Drain the asparagus, and place in a large bowl. Add the olive oil and turn the asparagus with your hands so that all stalks are evenly coated.
5. IMMEDIATELY place the asparagus on the grill. Cook one side for 2-3 minutes, then turn and cook the other side for 2-3 minutes. If you see that the stalks are browning too quickly reduce the heat and turn the asparagus more frequently.
6. Serve with a light sprinkling of sea salt.

{LE PRINTEMS EN PROVENCE} Spring is finally here, and with that my 1st visit of the season to Provence. You can really see the difference in climate as you drive further south – the first thing I noticed was how many leaves were already out on the grapevines. And how the cherries on our cherry trees blossomed literally overnight, turning lovely shades of rosy pink, red and yellow !!! 

Then there was the picking of fresh laural leaves – to be dried and used for cooking (ie curry) and the tasting of my parents homemade olive oil - made only from the olives handpicked from our olive grove. The yield while small, produced an oil of unsurpassed quality, not like anything I had ever tasted. This was the 1st year that we have tried making the olive oil this way. Normally our olives are sent to the cooperative, mixed with other harvests and we receive a % of the oil based on the N° of kilos of olives we provide. The yield is better however the oil has a more bitter taste - and though excellent, it cannot hold a candle to the 100% family variety.  Quality vs quantity has triumphed again.

The highlight of our weekend was being invited to the home of Bill & Gisele Lieberman, friends of my parents, who own a lovely country house called the Mas des Patres overlooking the valley in Uzes. We spent the late afternoon chatting & eating their delicious cheese cake and fig tart, and sipping on champagne - after their toast for out forthcoming wedding!

The only sad news of our trip were the apricot trees…

Normally covered with ripening fruit, there were no more than 6 little green apricots on our two trees this year. Apparently there had been a rather unexpected spring frost, which negatively affected all the apricot trees in the area. My heart goes out to the farmers of the region, as unless their crops were further south, where the frost did not hit, they would have suffered for this season.

On a more positive note, I will shortly be posting two recipe, one for grilled asparagus as ’tis the season’, and the other for an almond cake which I have perfected after baking the original version with my mom in Provence.

{PETITS SABLES AUX FLEURS DE LAVANDE ET MIEL} This past weekend I escaped from the city to the French countryside …. peace and quiet from all the tourists in town, cool breeze, listening to the cow bells, reading Marianne Paquin’s ‘Cueillez, c’est prêt!’ cookbook, and finding inspiration in a lavender bush!

For me lavender is the true ‘parfum de Provence’ (the perfume of Provence). However when it comes to cooking I think there should be a warning label: ’this flower is sweet BUT strong …. therefore do not run a muck, suppress your enthusiasm to add more, or your desert will taste like a bar of soap! A little goes a long way“

Sadly I did not have these words of wisdom when I first made ‘a lavender & apricot compote’…. wild horses could not have stopped me from adding an overly abundant amount of this innocent looking purple flower. The result was overwhelming and not in a good way.

Keeping this experience in mind as I read Marianne’s recipe for lavender cookies, I decided to make the recipe as follows: omitting the lavender essence as I simply didn’t have any and thought that the flowers alone would be enough. I replaced 25g of white sugar with orange blossom honey, and added a little extra flour to the dough - which instead of rolling out, I made into two long thin rolls which I chilled and then cut into circles. The result was a delicately subtle perfume of lavender, that tickles your sense as you nibble on these golden shortbreads.

RECIPE - SWEET PEA BLOG

• 250g plain flour
• 125g unsalted butter
• 100g white sugar
• 25g honey (I used orange blossom, but will try lavender honey next time)
• 1 packet of vanilla sugar (or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence)
• 1 egg
• 6 stalks of fresh lavender

1. Preheat the oven 180°C (350°F).
2. Take the butter out of the fridge, weight, then cut into small cubes and leave to come to room temperature.
3. Next remove the lavender flowers for the stalks (if you do not have access to fresh lavender use dried) and set aside in a small dish.
4. In a mixing bowl, combine the egg, white sugar and vanilla and mix until light and creamy.
5. Now using a wooden spoon gently add the lavender flowers and sifted flour. Using your fingers work the dough into what looks like little breadcrumbs.
6. Next add the room temperature butter, and again using your hands work the dough until it forms a nice smooth ball.
7. Divide the dough into two pieces, and roll each into a long thing roll (log) apporx. 4cm wide, cover in cling film and place in the fridge to chill for 1 hour. The timing here is essential as if you remove the dough too soon it will be difficult to cut.
8. Remove the dough from the fridge and place on a cutting-board. Cut the roll into 1cm thick cookies and place on a non-stick baking sheet. You may want to reshape the edge to make the circle more perfect. Little space is needed between each cookie as they do not rise nor expand.
9. Cook for 20 minutes and place on a cooling rack. These cookies will keep for up to two weeks in a metal cookie tin.

{CONFITURE D’ABRICOT ET ROMARIN} I was recently on holiday in Provence when the apricot season was in full bloom. To some this is a dream come true, to my father, whose keen desire to keep up with the overly abundant apricot tree in the garden (which was apparently getting the better of him), it was a loosing battle.

By the time I arrived he couldn’t look, let alone eat another one. Help was on the way Perfectly juicy and ripe, just waiting to be plucked and in close proximity to the rosemary bushes…. I couldn’t wait to make jam and thought how nicely the two would go together.

Jam Making WITHOUT PECTIN:

• I use the juice of a lemon = natural pectin, as the thickening agent for jam
• Certain fruits / berries such as blackberries naturally contain a high % of pectin, requiring less cooking time when making jam & little or no lemon juice

RECIPE – SWEET PEA BLOG

• Buy 5kg of whole local ripe apricots
• 2.72kg of white sugar  (the key is 0,8kg of sugar for 1kg of chopped fruit)
• 1 lemon
• 5 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 12 large jam jars (445ml each)

Rosemary sack : Place the 5 whole rosemary sprigs in a clean nylon stocking and knot the end (no I am not mad this works, you can also use cheese-cloth if you prefer)  

Jam jar preparation :

1. Preheat your oven to 100°C.
2. To sterilise the jam jars (bocals), wash them in hot soapy water, rinse and place on a tray in the oven while you make the jam.

Jam making :

• Squeeze the juice of one lemon and set aside.
• Next wash the apricots and cut them into quarters (or halves if you prefer larger pieces of fruit in your jam!) You should end up with approximately 3,4kg of chopped fruit.
• In a very large saucepan (preferably one for making soup) add the chopped apricots and cover with sugar. I often do this step the night before, the fruit will keep if well covered with the sugar.
• On the stove bring the apricots & sugar  to a rolling boil, now add the rosemary sack, and cook for 15 minutes. Then add the lemon juice and cook for at least another 5 minutes until the “GOUTTE TEST” works.
• Remove the jam jars from the oven and with a ladle fill each jam jar until approx. 1cm from the surface. Cover with plastic or screw tops. Leave to set for 3 days.

“GOUTTE TEST”: a goutte is a drop, and as I do not use pectin / certo to thicken the jam (the lemon juice helps with this), you need to cook it until, after dipping the wooden spoon in the boiling jam and then holding the spoon horizontally over the saucepan, the LAST  goutte / drop does not fall off the spoon but holds. You then know your jam will set.

NOTE  : jam is often made using the ratio of 1kg chopped fruit to 1kg of sugar. I find this produces a jam that is too sweet and as such have reduced the sugar to 0,8kg.

It is cherry season, and if I eat one more handful I think I am going to look like a cherry….. so I have decided to turn my attention to making jam!An enjoyable, even relaxing project, that marries well with Olivier’s love for tartines and our continued shortage of confiture! Tartine is the French delicacy of a lovely thick slice of bread with creamy butter topped with homemade confiture (jam).

However a black cloud, or should I say frustrated very red finger tips, began to settle over my little jam making jamboree, as I struggled with a paring knife in a feeble attempt to separate the clinging cherry from its pip! Lucky for me, help was not far away. While chatting with my mother, who is currently in Provence surrounded by les cerisiers (cherry trees), I recounted my sad story and she introduced me to the “Dénoyauteur“!

What you may ask is a Dénoyauteur… well, it is my new best friend! A simple little handheld machine that removes the cherry pip in one simple action. Place the cherry in the holder squeeze handles together and voila! De-piped cherry ready and willing to hop into a pie/ cake / jam, I could go on…. There are more complex devices, that are perhaps better for larger batches of cherries, but as I live in the city and storage space being at a premium, the smaller the utensil the better. Not only does this wonderful invention eliminate the red finger problem (attractive as this is at work…), decreases the de-pipping time and cherry loss, but it can be easily purchased in your local shops for about €2!! Naturally best to drop everything and run out and buy at least one if not two