This creamy, spring risotto is made with fresh asparagus and goat cheese. Whether you need a fancy dinner party meal or an easy weeknight dinner, this risotto is the perfect answer (made in just 30 minutes).
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I became obsessed with risotto after going to culinary school in Italy. Risotto is a regional dish that you'll find in Northern Italy.
With all of the beautiful spring produce available, I knew I had to create a fun risotto recipe with the fresh asparagus. This recipe is made not only with asparagus (whose flavor is infused into the broth) but also with some tangy goat cheese. This combo is to die for!
I love that risotto can be made as an upscale Italian dinner party dish or for a quick weeknight meal since it's made in under 30 minutes.
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What You'll Learn In This Recipe
- The best type of rice to use for Italian risotto.
- How to blanch asparagus so you get amazing flavored risotto.
- Tips from culinary school to make an authentic Italian version of your favorite dish.
Want to keep learning how to make the best, authentic Italian food? Grab my eBook with 10 of my favorite Italian recipes.
Ingredients You Need
Pay attention to the ingredients you buy for this risotto. It's best to buy high-quality ingredients for a great taste.
- Vegetable stock: This ingredient helps cook the rice. You can either make your own vegetable stock or buy one that has a delicious flavor.
- Asparagus: Italians always eat in-season produce because that's when it tastes best. Always buy fresh asparagus during the spring for this recipe.
- Unsalted butter: This ingredient is used to toast the rice and it's also folded in at the end to add great taste and texture to the risotto.
- Arborio rice: You'll need a special type of rice to make risotto. In culinary school, we were taught to use carnaroli or vialone nano rice since it can withstand a longer serving time without seizing up. However, this type of rice can be hard to find, so I opt for arborio.
- Dry white wine: When cooking with wine, always use a good bottle of wine that you would want to drink. I often use Pinot Grigio.
- Goat cheese: I love how creamy the goat cheese makes this rice.
- Morton kosher salt/Black pepper: It's really important to properly season the rice if you want the best flavor. Rice by itself is fairly bland, but adding salt and pepper will help to enhance all of the other flavors in the dish.
How To Make This Recipe
1. First, heat the stock until it's boiling. Blanch the asparagus just until they're slightly softened. Remove the asparagus with a slotted spoon (to save the stock) then transfer the asparagus to the ice water immediately to stop the cooking.
2. Next, chop 4 tablespoons (56 grams) of butter into small, ¼ inch (½ cm) pieces and place them in the freezer. This is a unique trick that we learned in culinary school. This butter will be used to finish the dish.
3. Melt the remaining butter in the saucepan and toast the rice. You're looking for the rice to transform from white/opaque to translucent. This step seals the split in the rice to ensure too much starch doesn't release.
At this point, it's very important not to brown the rice. If you see rice turning a golden brown color, lower the heat immediately.
4. Add white wine and cook until the rice has absorbed all the wine.
5. Next, ladle ¾ cup (175 ml) of hot stock into the large saucepan, just until the rice is covered. Once you reach this step, you'll want to set a timer for 16 minutes. This is about how much time it takes to perfectly cook the rice.
Once the rice has absorbed about half of the stock, add in another ½ cup (120 ml) of hot stock. Continue this process until the rice is tender, but still has a bite to it (Italians always eat risotto on the al dente side). Once it's ready, the rice will still look a little soupy.
6. Remove the risotto from the heat and add the blanched asparagus and frozen butter to the rice.
7. Finally, season with goat cheese, salt, and pepper.
8. If you want to learn to plate risotto like an Italian, ladle the risotto on a plate and tap the bottom of the plate to spread the risotto into a thin layer. You can optionally garnish with some additional asparagus, goat cheese, or extra virgin olive oil.
Expert Tips
- It's best to serve the risotto immediately after it has finished cooking. You don't want the risotto to sit for too long, otherwise, it will firm up.
- In culinary school, we learned not to use arborio rice because it has a big slit in the middle of the rice which causes starch to release more easily. If you live near an Italian market, see if you can find carnaroli or vialone nano rice as it will withstand a longer serving time without seizing up.
- I typically plan for 70 grams of rice per person if I'm serving this dish as the main course or 40 - 60 grams of rice if it's a side dish.
Recipe FAQs
Once fully and properly cooked, the rice should still have a nice bite to it. Italians do not like to eat mushy, overcooked rice.
Yes, you can also use chicken or beef stock if you'd prefer that flavor profile.
No! Do not wash the rice before cooking the risotto. This will rinse all of the good starch off of the rice.
Adding in the broth a little at a time helps the rice to slowly absorb the liquid and the flavor. This is what helps create a creamy and delicious risotto.
More Risotto Recipes
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Asparagus Goat Cheese Risotto
Equipment
- saucepan
Ingredients
- 32 ounces vegetable stock
- 8 ounces asparagus woody stem removed and finely chopped
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter divided
- 1 ½ cups arborio rice
- ¾ cup dry white wine
- 4 ounces goat cheese
- 1 ¼ teaspoons Morton kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon finely ground black pepper
Instructions
- Fill a large bowl with ice water and set aside.
- Heat vegetable stock in a medium saucepan over medium high heat until boiling. Blanch asparagus for 2 minutes, just until slightly softened. Remove with a slotted spoon (to save the stock) and transfer to the ice water immediately to stop the cooking.
- Roughly chop 4 tablespoons (56 grams) of butter into small, ¼ inch (½ cm) pieces and place in the freezer.
- Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons (28 grams) butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add arborio rice to the saucepan and toast the rice until it’s translucent, about 4 - 6 minutes. You don’t want the rice to take on any color, so turn down the heat if you see browning.
- Add white wine and cook until the rice has absorbed all the wine. Ladle ¾ cup (175 ml) hot stock into the large saucepan, just until the rice is covered. Once the rice has absorbed about half of the stock, add in another ½ cup (120 ml) of hot stock. Continue this process until the rice is tender, but still has a bite to it. From the time you add in the first ladle of hot stock, it should take about 16 minutes to fully cook the rice. Once ready, the rice will still have a bite to it and look a little soupy.
- Drain the asparagus. Remove the risotto from heat and add asparagus and frozen butter to the rice and stir until incorporated. Season with goat cheese, salt, and pepper. To serve, ladle the risotto on a plate and tap the bottom of the plate to spread the risotto into a thin layer.
Emma
This is my new favorite flavor of risotto! We'll be making this again!