Roasted Garlic & Asparagus Risotto

I did a blog post a year ago for one of my favorite dishes that I make: mushroom risotto. It is a delicious & rich dish, with a great depth of flavor from the sauteed mushrooms, beef broth, and sharp cheese. But it's pretty rich & heavy. And sometimes The Mrs doesn't like a dish where mushrooms are the main star. So this time I made a lighter version of risotto using asparagus.

I started by slicing asparagus and sauteing it in a pan with olive oil and a little salt & pepper. After they have been cooking down for a few minutes and have softened, I added some really great roasted garlic chips my wife bought me a while back.  You don't want to add the garlic too early because it will burn.

Remove that from the pan and set aside on a cutting board. Toast some rice in a pan with a little butter and heat up your liquid. This time I went with chicken broth instead of beef broth because I think it's a little lighter. For more detailed instructions on risotto, click on the link above.  The main key is patience. You want to slowly add the liquid and stir, then wait for it to be absorbed by the rice before adding more liquid.

If patience isn't a virtue you possess (like me), find something to keep yourself busy.

I decided to slice each asparagus stem lengthwise to make them even thinner -- but mainly to pass the time. Then I isolated the garlic chips and discarded about half of them. I diced the remaining roasted garlic chips so I could add them back to the party once the risotto was ready.  This time I opted to stir in a little Parmesano-Romano into the risotto for that cheese component, but without it being as rich as before when I added the shredded sharp cheese.

Transfer everything to a wide bowl and top it with the veggies & garlic. Asparagus is a funky vegetable with a really unique flavor profile. The cheese & chicken broth will give a nice salty flavor to everything, and then the vegetables kind of lighten it up and provide a crunchy texture and counter-point in flavor.