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The Review - FOOD AND DRINK - Cooking with CLARE
Published: 18th August 2009

A bunch of asparagus

Asparagus and prawn risotto

This is quite a mild and subtle risotto so I am omitting parmesan as it has a strong
flavour. Instead, I am adding crème fraîche to give it a creamy sauce to link the flavours of
the asparagus and prawns.
Serve with a ripe tomato salad with chives and olive oil.

Ingredients
Serves 4
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
50g unsalted butter
350g risotto rice
1 glass dry white wine
Up to 2 litres fish or vegetable stock
20 asparagus
200g cooked peeled prawns
2 tbsp crème fraîche
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 handful freshly chopped parsley

Method

Fry the onion in the butter for about three minutes or until soft but not browned. Add the rice and stir well. Add the wine, and then add half the stock and some salt and stir. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer with the lid off for as long as the rice takes to cook. Check the packet for times as they vary. Top up the stock if it dries out. This is the tricky bit: you have to time the rice being cooked and the stock being reduced to end up with a wet, creamy risotto texture.
While this is cooking, bring a pan of salted water to the boil and add the asparagus. Keeping the heat high, cook for about two minutes then drain and rinse in cold water to prevent cooking further. Cut the stems into mouth-size pieces discarding the tough ends.
When the rice is cooked add the asparagus, prawns, crème fraîche, freshly ground black pepper and parsley and stir well over a low heat to warm through. Check the seasoning and add more stock if too thick. It should drop off the spoon with the same consistency as a white sauce. Serve immediately.

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