Asparagus and Lemon Risotto

I finally got to the market early enough today to find asparagus. Thusly, this from Alice. Good ol' Alice...

4 servings

Snap off the ends of 1 lb asparagus. Cut spears on the diagonal into 1/4-inch pieces. Remove the zest from 1 lemon and juice. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a heavy-bottomed pan. Ass 1 small onion, diced fine. Cook until the onion is soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Add 1.5 cups risotto rice. Cook the rice, stirring occasionally, until translucent,* about 4 minutes. Do not let brown.

Meanwhile, bring 5 cups chicken broth to a boil.

Stir the lemon zest into the rice, then pour in 1/2 cup dry white wine. Cook, stirring, until all the wine is absorbed. Add 1 cup of broth and cook at a vigorous simmer, stirring occasionally. When rice starts to get thick, pour in another 1/2 cup of broth and add a little salt, depending on the saltiness of the broth. Keep adding broth, 1/2 at a time, every time the rice thickens. Do not let the rice dry out. After 12 minutes, stir in the asparagus. Cook until the rice is tender but still has a firm core, about 20-30 minutes in all.

When rice is about done, stir in half the lemon juice and add 1 tablespoon butter and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese. Stir vigorously to develop the creamy starch. Taste for salt and lemon juice and adjust as needed. Turn off the heat, let the risotto sit uncovered for 2 minutes, then serve. Add a splash of broth if the rice becomes too thick.

RESULTS: ok, first of all, whenever I see a recipe that calls for a heavy-bottomed pan, I get "Fat-bottomed girls" by Queen stuck in my head. And now you will, too, ha, HA!

I like making risotto because I think my culinary Achilles heel is that I lack patience. Risotto sort of seems to demand patience to get the best texture. Today I was making this at the same time I was making some Cheese Straws, so my attention was split, which may explain why the risotto turned out so great today. It was neither mushy, nor was it crunchy in the middle. It was perfect. Woo-hoo! Oh, I also liked the flavor a lot. Things I changed: left out the cheese, didn't have a lemon so I used lemon juice at the end, no wine, and I only added the butter at the end, I used olive oil at the beginning. Also, the farmer's market had onions, but they were the young onions with green stalks still attached. I wanted to use the greens, so I added those, chopped up, when I added the asparagus at the end. I might have also gotten by with adding it later, but not earlier.

*I think this must be a typo, rice turns opaque, not translucent. It starts translucent. Or am I misunderstanding the terms?