Asparagus, Pea & Fontina Risotto

May is, of course, the best week of the year to use British asparagus and although asparagus from other countries is nice there is nothing to compare with British produce. We decided to try a recipe from Jill Dupliex appearing daily in the Times, here.Yesterday we tried last Thursday’s dish ASPARAGUS, PEA & FONTINA RISOTTO (set out here because I can’t find it on the Times’ website).

1 onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp olive oil
350g risotto rice, unwashed
1.2 litres chicken stock, heated
150ml white wine
400g asparagus, finely chopped
150g peas
Ground nutmeg, sea salt & pepper
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp grated parmesan
100g fontina, sliced

Method: Heat the oil and butter in a heavy saucepan and cook the onion for 10 minutes until softened. Add the rice, stirring well. Add the wine and stir as it almost bubbles away.
Add the hot stock a ladleful at a time, stirring, over medium heat. Add more stock as the rice absorbs it, and water if you run out of stock. Cook the asparagus and peas in simmering, salted water for 4 minutes. Drain and cool under cold running water.
Heat the grill. When the rice is tender, add the asparagus, peas, nutmeg, salt and pepper, and fold through. Beat in the butter and parmesan and divide between four warm plates. Arrange the cheese on top and place briefly under the grill until it has melted.

The Husband is a dab hand at cooking risotto and so he had a go at this. He commented that once cooked the risotto mixture was absolutely delicious as it was and just did not need the nutmeg. We both agreed that the melted cheese on top was unnecessary and the finished risotto would have been fine without it. The butter parmesan and fontina have, of course, made this very calorific and something to have only very rarely.