Hooray hooray hooray spring is here! I know, I know, it's technically been spring for 6 or so weeks already, but it's only now making itself manifest at the farmers' market. (Or so I hear. Haven't actually been in a couple of weeks.) My mom gave me some produce she had left over after having us over for dinner (thanks, mom!) - three bunches of ramps and a handful of cute pencil-thin asparagus. Risotto time!
A bit of a digression, first, though: I was worried that mommyhood would mean the end of any time in the kitchen, and indeed, Chunk's first few weeks involved him wanting to eat dinner right when we did, which meant mommy scarfed some food down and then sat at the kids' table, as it were. However, boy genius has decided to be the best baby ever and do this from about 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., leaving us with some nice time in the evening to do grown up things like eat dinner and watch TV. (How exciting, I know. Oh, mommy can also drink wine. That actually is exciting.) So. Hopefully lots of cooking in our future. Plus we signed up for a CSA share this summer, so I will be forced to use a ton of lovely produce.
Anyway. I'm not going to post a full-out instruction-laden recipe, because risotto is pretty easy once you get the basics down (and I wasn't paying the closest attention when I made this!). In terms of proportions, I used 1 1/2 cups of rice to about a quart of chicken stock. First, preheat the oven to 400 and roast the asparagus (drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper) for 15-20 minutes until nicely browned - it's fantastic to almost have asparagus fries on top of the risotto. Heat the stock and keep it at a simmer. Meanwhile, heat a combo of olive oil and butter in a pan and saute the sliced ramp bulbs. Add the sliced ramp leaves and wilt. Add the rice and stir till coated with fat, then add about a quarter cup of dry white wine. When that is absorbed, add the stock, a ladleful at a time, and let it absorb, stirring frequently. It's done when the rice is tender with a bit of a bite. Stir in some grated parmesan cheese, a pat of butter, and season to taste. Slice the asparagus, shave some more parmesan, and serve the risotto with these lovely fixins on top. Enjoy!