Champagne Risotto

Delicious! That would be my answer if I had to describe this dish in only one word. Oh, you want more than one? Okay, how about: rich, salty, creamy, crunchy, satisfying, and delicious. That’s six words, so I think we should be good now. I shouldn’t have been, and wasn’t, surprised though, as this recipe that I found on the blog Pink Parsley was right on par with others that I’ve tried from this site.

Seriously though, this was really good, and paired well with the Salmon I chose to serve it with, but would compliment many dishes well, or even be delicious on its own. Be sure not to skip the prosciutto. It’s a little pricey, but totally worth it, as it provides a salty crunch that brings the whole dish together.

Risotto is one of those dishes that seems to have an aura of fancy and intimidating around it. I think this was started by chefs and restaurants to allow them to charge extra for it when you go out to eat. If you’ve never made risotto before, I encourage you to give it a try. It’s really not difficult at all, and makes a great side dish for almost anything, and can be seasoned in many different ways, I’ll have to post my chicken marsala variation sometime soon.

Ingredients:

• 4 Thin Slices of Prosciutto
• 5 cups Chicken Stock, low sodium is best
• 12 Asparagus Spears, cut diagonally into 1-inch pieces
• 2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 1 cup Arborio Rice
• ¾ cup Champagne
• ¼ cup Parmesan Cheese, freshly grated
• ¼ tsp Salt
• ½ tsp Pepper, freshly ground

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450⁰. Place the prosciutto slices on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake until they are almost completely crisp, 6-8 minutes. The slices will crisp up even more as they cool. Set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken broth to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer the broth.
3. Blanch the asparagus spears in the broth for 2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon. Set the asparagus aside and keep the broth at a low simmer.
4. In a large, heavy bottom skillet, melt 1 Tbsp butter. Add the shallot and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the Arborio rice and stir to coat in the butter. Continue toasting the rice, stirring constantly, about 3 minutes.
5. Add the champagne and simmer until the liquid is almost evaporated, about 3 minutes.
6. Add 1/2 cup of the broth and stir until almost completely absorbed by the rice, about 2 minutes.
7. Continue cooking the rice, adding broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly and allowing each addition of broth to absorb before adding the next, until the rice is tender but still firm to the bite and the mixture is creamy, about 20 minutes total. Remove from heat.
8. Gently stir in the asparagus, the remaining tablespoon of butter, the Parmesan, salt, and pepper. Spoon the risotto into serving dishes and garnish by breaking the crisp prosciutto into smaller pieces over the risotto.