A dreamily delicious meal for a gray skied day, this Asparagus and Sun Dried Tomato Risotto will never fail to perk up your table and tastebuds.

Every once in a blue moon, the mountains surrounding my little city are shrouded in hovering, gray mists, making the expansive skies seem moody and impassive. These are the days that I throw every shade in my house wide open, inviting the cooler temperatures to surround me and also in an attempt to create more light contrast for my eyes to revel in. It is a dreamy atmosphere, and brings to the forefront of my thoughts favored childhood stories my Dad used to weave for my younger self, of princesses and magic flowers and grandiose adventures. The tales of Princess Iris (hey, I was a star!!) and the trepidatious situations she could work her way out of while keeping her pink silk gowns intact were the stuff every little girl’s dreams are made of. She used her wits and bravery to get herself out of some tricky spots, and as I look back at those inventive tales, a bit fuzzled with time, I realize that a few common themes were using your brain, strength, and sense of humor to handle sometimes ungraceful situations. Pretty wonderful ideals to teach a young girl.

So as I reveled in my fake fireplace blazing, with the misty skies and cool winds rustling the leaves of the citrus trees in my patio, I sank into this absolutely comforting bowl of Asparagus and SunDried Tomato Risotto. Rice has always been one of my favored foods, in almost every form and incarnation you can think of, but Risotto is one of those dishes that is completely dreamy. Risotto has a bit of a reputation of being finicky and time consuming, constantly demanding attention. For many years, it really was a dish I would only want from restaurants, or when I was working in restaurants, would be something I considered best made there as everything was ready and prepped to make the preparation sweetly simple. However, I longed to have this little bowl of creamy, dreamy Risotto to settle into and I knew it was not going to be THAT fussy to make it at home

Use a Saute pan with high sides when preparing your Risotto, as it helps in keeping your kitchen clean - especially if you have little helpers making dinner!

If you break down Risotto to the sum of its parts, there are the three main ingredients that you need. Liquid, rice, and add ins. First, the liquid can be a combination of wine and some kind of broth. Then, the rice that is used is extremely important, as it is essential to have it cook and break down into a creamy texture while the individual grain of rice still keeps its integrity. Arborio rice is typically the rice of choice for this - there is a reason the old school Italian grandmas and generations before them used Arborio instead of say, Basmati. Then, you have to consider what your add ins are to flavor your little bowl of deliciousness. Aromatics such as Garlic and Shallots are a favorite, though the whole color wheel of vegetables is at your disposal as well as cheeses, meats, and sometimes even nuts. When combined, all the elements of a truly great Risotto will tantalize your tastebuds with savory notes, creaminess, nuttiness, and a hint of tang to cut through the richness of the dish.

The most important thing about making a Risotto at home is to ensure that all of the elements for the Risotto are ready to go before you begin cooking. Chop and mince your herbs ahead before even turning on the oven. Get the stock heating in a pot so it is ready to ladle into the big sauce pan. Mince the Garlic and Shallot, and other elements you choose to add in ahead of time. Properly preparing makes it a very simple, streamlined process to actually cook the Risotto. If you have little ones, or want to put your partner to work, you can get everything ready ahead of time and then make them stir the Risotto and slowly add in the stock while you prepare a salad or do whatever you need to. This is one of those dishes I can tell my husband “Stir, keep stirring, and when the liquid looks like it’s almost gone, add more stock until there’s none left. Then, tell me and we will finish the dish together.

The Risotto continues to thicken ever so slightly once you turn off the heat and fold in the last of the ingredients. It ends up being a creamy, hearty bowl of comfort.

As we had a ton of Asparagus that needed to be used before it went into no man’s land of dead vegetables, I knew that I would be utilizing the little green delicacy as a starring role in my Risotto. I wanted something that was nice and savory with a tart and sweet punch of flavor every so often, so I thought SunDried Tomatoes would be a delicious addition. From there, I figured that some fresh Thyme and Rosemary would be cohorts with the Garlic and Shallot and Parmesan to create a beautiful savory base, and then, since Lemon is one of my favorite flavors, I wanted little punches of lemon to peep through.

What resulted from my experimentations is something that is a perfect main dish, or a delicious side to a big protein. The Shallots and Garlic melt away to lighting during the cooking process, and the Rosemary and Thyme are balanced beautifully with the Parmesan Cheese you stir in at the end. I chose to roast the Asparagus before stirring it into the nearly finished Risotto as I love the subtle sweetness that roasting brings to vegetables. The SunDried Tomatoes and the Lemon Zest and juice add much needed acidic and sweet pops of flavor, and each bite is both comforting and exciting in the variations you can create with what you bring to your lips. It can be a pretty magical moment, and elevate your somewhat dreamy day into one that’s even dreamier

This Asparagus and Sun Dried Tomato Risotto is simple to prepare for a cozy weeknight, but is fancy enough to impress your guests with should you have company.

Asparagus and Sun Dried Tomato Risotto

Author: Iris Anna Gohn

Servings: 4

Risotto is one of those dishes I always thought of as uber fancy, and very fussy to make. I just have a really, really difficult time paying $15-$25 for a bowl of rice, so I figured I was being extremely ridiculous for not streamlining the Risotto-making process for myself at home. After all, this is considered Italian Comfort Food, and I was approaching it as though it was a puff pastry.

This method is very simple, and I cannot stress enough how important it is to have all of your ingredients prepped ahead of time. Once you start stirring the rice, it is a safe bet to say you will be stirring it for a bit - I do not recommend walking away. If you have small helpers, this is actually a great dish to train them on to help in the kitchen, as all they need to do is watch and stir for you :)

This Risotto makes about 4 whole servings if you choose to eat it as a main dish, however I think you could probably stretch it up to 6-8 if you choose to use it as a side for a meal that has a protein and a nice green salad. If you choose to make this Vegetarian or Vegan, just substitute Olive Oil for the Butter, Vegetable stock for the Chicken, and maybe Nutritional Yeast for the Parmesan Cheese.

Ingredients

2 Tbsp Butter
2 1/2 Tbsp Minced Shallot (1 large)
1 Tbsp Minced Garlic (2 Cloves)
1 1/2 Cups Uncooked Arborio Rice
1 Cup Chardonnay (Something smooth and buttery, not sweet)
1/2 Tsp Minced very fine Fresh Rosemary
1/2 Tsp Fresh Thyme Leaves
6 Cups Hot Chicken or Vegetable Stock
3 1/2 Tbsp Minced Sun Dried Tomatoes (I used Tomato Halves, Italian Herbs flavor, packed in Olive oil)
1 Bunch Thin Asparagus, Roasted and cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 Cup Shaved Parmesan
Zest and Juice of 1/2 Lemon (about 1 Tbsp Juice)
Sea Salt to Taste
Fresh Cracked Pepper to Taste
Olive Oil, for roasting Asparagus
Fresh Chopped Parsley, to garnish

Directions

Preheat Oven to 425 F. Line a baking sheet with Aluminum Foil. Set aside.
Wash and prepare the Asparagus. Take one piece of Asparagus and bend it until it naturally snaps in half. Then use this as a guide to cut the rest of the Asparagus to the same length - this will ensure your Asparagus spears will be nice and tender and not woody when you bite into them.
Spread the Asparagus on the prepared baking sheet and drizzle a little Olive Oil over the spears, maybe a tablespoon or so. Salt and Pepper the Asparagus, and then gently hand toss the Asparagus spears to ensure everything is coated evenly.
Bake in the oven for just 10 minutes, then pull out. You want them to be pretty crisp as they will finish cooking in the risotto.
While the Asparagus is baking, in a medium sauce pan heat the chicken stock. You can also prep the other vegetables, such as mincing the Garlic, Shallots, Sun-dried Tomatoes, and Herbs at this time.
In a large Sauce pan with high sides, melt the Butter over medium high heat.
Add the Shallot and season with a little Salt and Pepper. Saute for about 4-5 minutes, until the Shallot has begun to wilt and soften.
Add in the Garlic and saute for about a minute, until the Garlic is nice and fragrant.
Add the Arborio rice and the fresh Thyme and Rosemary. Stir and saute for about 2 minutes to make sure all the rice is coated with the butter and herbs. This also helps draw out a tiny bit of toasted Rice flavor before adding in the wine.
Add the Chardonnay, and reduce heat to medium. Gently stir rice until wine is almost completely absorbed.
Add in 2 Cups of chicken stock, and gently stir until it is almost absorbed. Repeat this two more times. Each time you add the chicken stock it should be maybe 10 minutes to absorb completely, but it depends on the heat level that your particular stove heats to “medium”. During this time, you can chop the cooled Asparagus into 1 to 2 inch pieces.
When the last of the chicken stock is almost absorbed into the rice, add in both the minced Sun-dried Tomatoes and the Asparagus pieces. Add in the Zest and juice of 1/2 a lemon, then slowly stir everything to combine.
Once everything looks creamy and the rice is nice and plump, add in the shaved Parmesan and stir to combine. Taste, then add additional Salt and Pepper if needed.
Serve with Chopped Fresh Parsley, extra Lemon Slices, and additional shaved Parmesan, if desired.