Lemon & Asparagus Risotto Recipe
Oh damn, we’ve got you on this one. Even those who don’t favour risotto, just have a couple of bites, we’re sure you won’t be disappointed. Shaina, who is not a fan of risottos usually, says so herself.
What rice to use for risotto
So first things first, and this is super important. Depending on what rice you are going to use, you may or may not have to soak the grain overnight. To avoid soaking overnight, opt for regular risotto rice. This is also known as Arborio rice. It’s a short grain starchy type of rice.
We personally prefer using wholegrain risotto rice because the flavour profile it gives this dish, is just lovely. And that is why you’ll find we used this grain in our recipe below. We definitely think using this rice is preferable for those who aren’t the biggest risotto fans at least. The only downfall we might say is that for this grain, it is preferable to soak for as long as possible.
In all honesty, you can use whatever type of rice you want for risotto. If you really believe in it to work. That means even normal long grain rice. You can also even use pearl barley in replacement for risotto rice! And using this grain also provides more fibre and nutrients to our beautiful body. If using pearl barley, you’ll most likely have to soak it for a few hours at least too.
There are loads of recipes out there for different rice type risottos. We personally like The Spruce Eats long grain chicken risotto. Oh, we’d also suggest looking at the cooking directions on your chosen rice before going ahead; each rice and brand can vary.
Risotto rice not cooking
If you do happen to dive straight in when you needed to soak your grains, fear not, we’ve been there and we’re going to share what we done. So, the first time we made this, someone done an oopsie and didn’t realise that you had to soak wholegrain brown rice overnight. So it turned into a very very slow cook risotto.
First off, you will need to prepare to wait another couple of hours for your food to be ready. We know, we’re sorry and we feel your pain. Then;
- Carry on the recipe method as usual, but once your stock finishes, keep adding water in intervals and simmering on a low heat with a lid on.
- Only add more water once all excess liquid is absorbed from the pan.
To know how much water you need is entirely down to you unfortunately. Best way to go about this; pick out a grain of rice to test how far along it’s cooked. Add water depending on how hard it is (the more cooked the rice starts to get the less water you should be adding into intervals to prevent slodginess).
| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | 1 hour |
| Passive Time | 2-24 hours |
| Servings |
people
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- 1-2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion small
- 4 cloves garlic
- 300 g trimmed asparagus
- 230 g wholegrain risotto rice can sub for normal risotto rice
- 120 ml white wine
- 1 l stock of choice we used bouillon
- 1 lemon zest of full lemon and juice of half
- 2-4 tbsp Parmesan cheese
- hot water to spare
Ingredients
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- Before you start, please check to see if your chosen rice needs soaking. If using wholegrain risotto rice, then you will need to soak the grain for at least 2 hours, but overnight may be preferable for a super quick cook.*
- Heat your oil in one pan on a medium heat. Meanwhile quickly wash and prepare asparagus.
- Now that the oil is heated, chuck in the onion and cook until soft (a couple of minutes). Beware to not burn or caramelise the onions.
- On another hob steam asparagus until aldente (about five minutes or so).**
- Prepare stock of choice; if packet stock then heat in a saucepan, otherwise boil kettle and prepare powdered stock. You'll need 1L regardless of what you use, so if making you're own, make enough for this amount.
- Add in minced garlic and risotto rice and toast with onion mixture for a further five minutes.
- Deglaze pan with wine and cook until liquid is absorbed.
- Bit by bit, slowly add in stock one ladleful at a time. Cook out each ladleful of stock until liquid is absorbed until adding another. You should be constantly stirring during process.
- Keep going until all stock has been used. It should take about 25-35 minutes but timings can be different for everyone and depending on what rice you have used here. Wholegrain rice will take longer which is why the time may be longer than what you're used to.
- This step is optional. If you still feel like the rice needs longer cooking, add in another 400ml of hot water and leave to simmer with a lid for an extra 15 minutes or longer until liquid is absorbed.
- Once rice is cooked, take off heat, and add in zest of one lemon.
- Fold in cheese.
- Squeeze half a lemon and stir.
- Enjoy 🙂
*See the blog post for further information on using different types of grains in risotto and soaking.
**If you don't have a steamer then pop asparagus into another pan with a little water and steam with lid on top
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