Facing Your (Cooking) Fears

We all have them. Recipes or cooking techniques that seem too daunting to even attempt. For a long time risotto was one of those dishes for me. I think the recipe seemed daunting for two reasons. One, I am not a huge rice eater. And every time I make plain old rice (which is not often) it almost always gets stuck to the bottom of the pan. I assumed if I couldn’t help but screw up regular rice, any risotto I tried out would just not work. The other reason was the constant attention risotto seemed to require. I thought if I have to stand at a pot and stir for 30 minutes or more, it must be hard.

A month or so ago, I asked Jason if there was anything he specifically wanted for dinner and, what do you know, his answer was risotto. So I sucked it up and decided to give it a shot, warning him that we may be eating cereal for dinner if it didn’t work out.

It turned out well. Really well.

So I decided to try it again last night—this time using a more spring-y mix of flavors (asparagus, peas, leeks, and lemon). And you know what? It was even better the second time I made it. Apparently with risotto, like a lot of things, practice makes perfect.

Me 1, Cooking Fears 0

Spring Vegetable Risotto
Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated and Smitten Kitchen (combo of two recipes)

Ingredients:
1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into ½ inch pieces (my grocery store was out of regular asparagus so I ended up using the white variety—tasted great, just didn’t look as pretty when cooked)
½ cup frozen peas
2 leeks, white and light green parts halved and sliced thin
1 large clove garlic, minced
4 TBL butter
1 ½ cups Arborio rice
1 cup dry white wine
4 cups of chicken broth (preferably low sodium)
1 cup of water
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
½ lemon, juiced and zested
Salt and pepper

1.In a medium saucepan, combine chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil and then turn to low so it barely simmers.
2.In a larger saucepan or dutch oven, melt 1 TBL butter. Add asparagus and cook (stirring occasionally) until tender about 4-5 minutes. Add peas and cook for another minute. Remove vegetables and place in a bowl for later use.
3.Melt another  3 TBL butter in the same saucepan/dutch oven. Add sliced leeks, garlic, salt and pepper and cook (stirring occasionally) until soften about 4-5 minutes. Add rice. Stir to ensure each grain is coated with butter and cook until edges become translucent about 2-3 minutes.
4.Add white wine and stir until liquid is fully absorbed (and bottom of pan is almost dry), about 2-3 minutes.
5.Ladle 1 cup of the broth into the pan, and stir until absorbed. Continue ladling broth in ½ cup of a time, stirring frequently and letting each addition be absorbed before adding next, until rice is just tender and looks creamy, 18 to 20 minutes.
6.Remove from heat. Add ½ cup parmesan cheese and check for seasonings. Stir in lemon juice and zest. And gently fold in reserved vegetables. If the risotto looks too thick, add some of the remaining broth to thin it out.