Instructions
Follow the steps and taste along the way.
Prepare the vegetables and stock
Keep the stock hot in a small saucepan over low heat. Wash the asparagus, trim off the woody ends, and cut the stalks into pieces about 2 cm long; set the tips aside separately. Grate the lemon zest and squeeze the lemon to extract the juice.
Sauté the shallot and toast the rice
Heat the olive oil and 15 g of the butter in a wide saucepan. Add the shallot and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes, until softened but not browned. Stir in the garlic; after 30 seconds, add the rice and cook for 2 minutes, coating the grains in the fat.
Add the wine and cook gradually
Pour in the white wine and stir until it has almost completely evaporated, about 2 minutes. Then add the hot stock one ladleful at a time, stirring often and adding the next ladleful only when the rice has almost absorbed the previous one. After about 10 minutes, add the asparagus stalk pieces.
Finish cooking the asparagus and peas
Continue cooking and adding stock. When about 4 minutes remain, add the asparagus tips; add the frozen peas for the final 3 minutes. The total cooking time for the rice is usually 18 to 20 minutes. The grains should be creamy on the outside but still slightly firm in the center.
Stir in the cheese and lemon
Remove the saucepan from the heat. Stir in the remaining 20 g of butter, the Parmesan, lemon zest, and 15 ml of lemon juice. Season with 2 g of salt and add the black pepper. Taste; the risotto should be slightly tangy and loose enough to spread across the plate. If it is too thick, stir in a little more hot stock from the measured amount.
