Pea and Asparagus Risotto

Pea and asparagus risotto, creamy and perfect for the spring. Made with two kinds of peas and Parmesan.

Pea asparagus risotto with dill

This could be an appropriate dish to serve your mother on Mother’s Day. You should not forget the cake, you could try this Strawberry Cheesecake for instance, but if you want more than cake, this pea and asparagus risotto would be perfect. Light, creamy and delicious!

I always associate risotto with women, to tell you the truth, I always feel risotto is something that women particularly enjoy and that despite the fact that my own husband loves risotto just as much as I do.

But the look of risotto, the name of it, the versatility and the “no meat”, cheesy deliciousness make it, in my eyes, something for the women. So don’t hesitate to cook this for your mother, I am sure she would love it.

Ingredients for asparagus risotto

Asparagus:

• I made this risotto with white asparagus, but you could use the green one instead.
• Just cook the green asparagus pieces a little less than I cooked the white asparagus, they should still be crunchy.

Peas:

• Two types of peas: regular frozen peas and sugar snap peas, also known as snap peas, snow peas, sugar peas or mangetout.
• The snap peas can be frozen and defrosted as well, but fresh are always nices, crunchier and not so difficult to find.

Vegetable broth:

• Use a good quality vegetable broth, which is essential when making risotto, in my opinion.
• And keep some of the asparagus’ cooking water, just in case you need more broth towards the end of the cooking process, you could use that instead.

How to make risotto?

Risotto is a quick, easy to make dish having a bad reputation, I think. Many people I know never dared making a risotto, because many recipes out there state that they have to stand by the stove for half an hour, stirring the risotto continuously.

Well, you could do it, and many master chefs will tell that is the only way to do it!

But I never do, and I still loved all the risottos I have ever made, and I have made many, many of them. I stirred it continuously a few times, out of curiosity, and I didn’t notice any difference in the end.

It was delicious, but not more than it normally is when I don’t stir all the time, so I let it be and continued making the risottos my usual way, which is, adding the broth little by little and stirring well after each addition, every 3-4 minutes or so.

Tips:

• If using white asparagus, you will have to peel it as well.
• Remove the woody end of each spear.
• Place one spear on the working surface and peel with a vegetable peeler starting underneath the head of the plant.
• Keeping the stalk lying on the working surface will prevent it from breaking.
• Green asparagus doesn’t need to be peeled.

Otherwise I wish all the mothers out there a Happy Mother’s Day!

More asparagus recipes?

Basic Roasted Green Asparagus with Tomatoes and Feta

Chicken Asparagus Pasta Bake

Puff Pastry Asparagus with Mayonnaise

Asparagus Chicken Soup