artichoke-mushroom-asparagus risotto

artichoke-mushroom-asparagus risotto

risotto is one of my favorite foods and works well as a main course or a side dish. it has a very creamy texture but the parmiggiano reggiano offers a subtle sharpness in each bite. when using as a side dish i often serve it with chicken picatta or fish with a mustard sauce, but you can really serve it with anything your heart desires.  

serves 2 as a main course or 4 if used as a side dish

ingredients:

1 cup arborio rice

1 shallot

½ cup chardonnay

3 cups chicken stock

6 mushrooms

14 asparagus stems

14 oz can artichokes

1 ½  tbsp butter

¼  cup grated parmigiano reggiano

shaved parmigiano reggiano

4 thin slices proscuitto

salt

pepper

EVOO

directions:

preheat the oven to 450 F and place the proscuitto on a foil lined baking sheet. drizzle the proscuitto with olive oil and bake for 4- 6 minutes or until the proscuitto gets crispy (i learned this trick form giada), turn the oven down to 400 after you remove the proscuitto and let the proscuitto sit while preparing the risotto.  cut the asparagus on a diagonal into one inch pieces and clean the mushrooms with a damp towel and then cut each mushroom into 4 pieces and remove the stems. place the vegetables on a foiled lined baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, bake until the mushrooms turn a light brown from roasting, about 15 minutes.

next, heat the chicken stock in a pan over medium high heat.  in a separate pan, heat ½  tablespoon butter and 1 swirl of  EVOO over medium heat , once melted sauté  the chopped shallot for 3-5 minutes. then toast the arborio rice with the chopped shallot for 2 minutes before adding the chardonnay. once the chardonnay has been added, turn the heat up a little past medium and stir constantly as the arborio absorbs the chardonnay. once fully absorbed add ½ cup of chicken stock at a time to the arborio continuing to stir constantly and replenishing with another ½ cup once the stock has been absorbed, continue to do this until you have used all the stock and the risotto is fully cooked, about 30 minutes.  once you are down to about your last 1 ½ cups of chicken stock, warm the drained artichokes in a separate shallow pan over medium to low heat.

once the stock is used up and the risotto is fully cooked, turn the heat down to low and add 1 tablespoon of butter, 1/4 cup of grated parmigiano reggiano and salt and pepper to taste (keep in mind both the proscuittio and parmigiano will add salt to the dish). then carefully stir in the mushrooms, drained artichoke hearts and asparagus stems to the dish. top with the proscuitto and shaved parmesan.