I made up this recipe after watching some Food Network TV and having the urge for something hot and yummy. My first time trying to make a true risotto.

Lemon/Ginger Risotto with Vegetables

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Risotto Rice (Arborio Rice)
• 1 Cup Vegetable stock (cubed or liquid)
• 1 Cup of water (varies)
• 2 tsp Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup of Butter
• Pinch of Salt
• 1 bundle of Asparagus (8-12 stems) pre-cooked or steamed
• 1 Onion (medium sized) diced
• 2 Scallions chopped coarsely
• 2 Carrots (medium sized)
• Fresh basil chopped coarsely
• A piece of ginger (1 inch by 1/2 inch – should be about 2 tbsp’s minced)
• Juice of 2 lemons (optional: Zest the skin of 1 and set aside)
• Pinch of Parmesan

Instructions:

Step 1
Cook (steam or boil in salted water) your Asparagus “al denté” then cool quickly in cold water. Drain and set aside.

Step 2
Put the olive oil, butter, diced onion and minced ginger into a large saucepan (preferably one you have a lid for) over medium heat. Stir a couple times. Once the onions have turned translucent, slowly fold in the Risotto rice and stir around until the rice is covered by the oil/butter. Let simmer for a 3-5 minutes over low-medium at while stirring constantly. Don’t let it burn. You want to “cook/toast” the risotto slightly.

Step 3
Chop the pre-cooked Asparagus into bite sized pieces. Chop the Carrots into thin medallions. Add these to the rice along with the chopped scallions. Add the cup of vegetable stock and the juice of the lemons (and the zest if you wish). Add the salt and stir. Add more water ’til the whole mixture is a little bit more than covered. (you may substitute many other solid vegetables — I find ones that don’t mush up to much work best)

Step 4
The trick now is to keep stirring it often and adding more water (I used approximately 1 cup of additional water but you might like more or less – when learning how to make this start with less and keep adding slowly) until the rice and vegetables are as tender as you like (it took about 15-20 minutes for me). The more you stir, the “creamier” the Risotto becomes (as the starches are released). Mix in the fresh basil. Take it off the heat and let it stand covered for 5 minutes.

Step 5
Scoop some out into a bowl and grate some parmesan over top. Enjoy.

Any improvements or suggestions ? Leave them in the comments.