Asparagus and egg risotto

Mario Matassa shares his ‘risotto mimosa’ recipe. The dish is a staple of Italy’s Festa della Donna in March…

Risotto mimosa
Serves
 4
Preparation time 10 minutes
Cooking time 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 shallots, peeled, finely chopped

• 320g risotto rice

• 300g asparagus

• 2 hard boiled free-range eggs

• 1-1.5 litres of vegetable or chicken stock

• 3 tbsp olive oil

• a knob of unsalted butter

• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

1 Remove the hard woody end of the stalks from the asparagus. Chop the remaining stalks into 1cm pieces, leaving the tips intact. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan and gently fry the asparagus for 5 minutes. Set aside.

2 In a large saucepan, heat the remaining olive oil and the shallots. Sauté for a few minutes, then add the rice, stirring until the grains are evenly coated in oil. Next add a few ladlefuls of stock and stir until it has all been absorbed. Keep adding stock and stirring until the risotto is cooked (about 14-16 minutes).

3 About 5 minutes before the end of the cooking time, add the asparagus to the risotto. Once the risotto is cooked, add a generous knob of butter and season. Roughly mash the boiled eggs with the back of a fork and sprinkle over the top of each bowl of risotto.

Find more Italian-inspired recipes here