This is the second of a trio of asparagus recipes. This delicious and alternative vegetable adds bite and a lot of flavour to a basic risotto recipe. Once you’ve got the kettle on and started preparing your ingredients you can have this dish on the table in 20 minutes.

The ingredients for this recipe are for 2 people (with a small portion leftover for seconds).

Preparation time: 5 – 10 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 300g risotto rice
• 750ml vegetable stock
• ½ large onion
• 3 sticks of celery – washed
• 1 bunch of asparagus (approx. 300g)
• 1 bunch of mint – finely chopped
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 small glass of white wine (optional)
• 1 large handful of parmesan – grated
• 1 tsp salt
• Several twists of pepper
• Olive oil

Recipe:

1. Finely dice the onion and slice the celery. Toss these into a tablespoon of olive oil in a medium-sized pan over a low heat. Cook for 5 minutes until softened.
2. Whilst the onion and celery are cooking, prepare the asparagus. Firstly hold an asparagus stalk at each and bend until it breaks; it will naturally break where the woody (inedible) part ends. Repeat for the rest of the stalks and throw the woody parts away. Chop the tips of the asparagus off and set aside. Finely chop the remaining asparagus stalks (into ½cm width maximum), then set these aside too.
3. Add the risotto rice into the pan and slick the rice around to ensure it is coated in the onions, celery and oil. Add the wine at this point, if using, and allow to simmer for 2 – 3 minutes for the alcohol to evaporate.
4. Start adding the vegetable stock one ladle at a time. Allow each ladle of stock to be absorbed before adding the next. Once you’ve added about half the stock, tip in the chopped asparagus stalks.
5. When you’ve got about 100ml of stock left, add the asparagus tips, lemon juice and the seasoning. Stir together before adding the remaining stock. Once this absorbed, turn the heat off and finally add the grated parmesan and fresh mint and stir one final time to combine before serving.