This risotto is like a mouthful of springtime: fresh, light, lemony and green. Sadly I didn’t get myself organized in time to make it with our own wild asparagus, but this is still local asparagus from Granada. Don’t stint on the lemons, they really make it.  Serves 2 hungry people
50g butter [I used Flora with a dash of olive oil]
A small onion, peeled and finely chopped
200g Arborio rice [or arroz para paella]
A glass of white wine or Noilly Prat [I used a glass of La Guita manzanilla sherry]
400g asparagus
1 litre vegetable stock
Juice and zest of 2 lemons
3 tbsp grated parmesan
Freshly ground black pepper Melt the butter in a wide, high-sided pan over a very low heat. Add the onion and let it soften, stirring from time to time, so that it does not colour but becomes silky and translucent. Stir in the rice, folding the grains into the butter. Add the wine and let it bubble down until the liquid almost disappears. Meanwhile, chop the asparagus. Discard the woody stems. Add a large ladle of stock to the rice, turn up the heat a little, and let the liquid almost disappear. Add the asparagus and a second ladle of stock. Continue adding the stock like this, stirring often. Season with pepper, lemon zest and juice, and continue to cook gently until the rice is creamy but has a little bite left to it.

Stir in the cheese and eat immediately. 5 to remember
escatimar – to stint
de altos lados – high-sided
poco – a little [not much]
un cucharón – a ladle
inmediatamente – immediately

This recipe is by Nigel Slater from Kitchen Diaries [UK: Fourth Estate]

If you like this, try these:-
Salmon Traybake
Courgette and Chickpea Stew
A Sweet Creamy Frittata

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
Asparagus & lemon risotto #Recipe by @NigelSlater #Spain via @Spanish_Valley http://wp.me/p3dYp6-1pY