Risotto. Creamy rice, a splash of wine, a big dollop of butter, and cheese, glorious cheese. What’s not to love about a dish like that? The infernal stirring, that’s what. It’s such a good, restorative, comforting dish, but really, who has the patience? Sure, it can be meditative, standing and stirring with Buddha-like calm as the wine cooks down, and ladle after ladle of broth plumps the rice. But, truly, can you give a handful of rice 30 minutes of unblinking attention while all manner of homework mayhem ignites in the other room? Here’s one way to eliminate the long stand, stir and stare: enlist your oven. Contrary to the stiff-necked (and armed) belief of cranky purists, you can bake a perfectly fine risotto. While it’s not completely stir-less, this method will cut your stove-top workout down to a couple dozen reps. And while the rice, onions and broth happily bake, you’ll have plenty of time and focus to roast asparagus with one hand, and put out homework fires with the other. And honestly, if you slipped a bit to one of those stiff-necked purists I’d bet you good money they’d never know.
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons Kerrygold Unsalted Butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup minced onion
- 2 teaspoons very finely minced garlic
- Salt, freshly ground pepper
- 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice (or Cal-Rose short grain rice, if Arborio is not available)
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 4 1/2 cups chicken broth, kept at a simmer
- 1 1/2 lbs asparagus, tough ends removed and discarded; stalks cut diagonally in 2-inch pieces
- 3/4 cup grated Dubliner cheese
- 3 tablespoons cold Kerrygold Unsalted Butter, cut into small pieces
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
In 3.5 quart wide Dutch oven or any wide, heavy pan with lid, melt the butter over medium heat
Sauté onion until translucent and tender
Add rice, stirring occasionally, until rice is slightly toasted, about 2-4 minutes
Add garlic and salt (to taste), stirring until garlic is just fragrant, about a minute
Add the wine, and let cook for one minute
Stir in 3 cups of broth, turn up the heat to medium high, and bring to a simmer
Cover and place pot in oven.
Stir once halfway through cooking, after about 15 minutes
Cover pot again and continue to cook until the rice is tender and broth is absorbed, about 25-30 minutes
About 10 minutes before rice is done, coat asparagus pieces in the olive oil and spread on an aluminum-foil lined baking sheet
Sprinkle asparagus with salt
Place asparagus in oven (along with the rice) and roast until tender (about 7-10 mins)
Remove risotto from oven
Stir in remaining 1 1/2 cups warm broth, cheese, asparagus, butter pieces plus salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Serve immediately with extra grated Dubliner Cheese, if desired.
http://kerrygoldusa.com/recipes/baked-risotto-with-roasted-asparagus
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