Romantic Risotto

We took a spring trip to Paris. Then we watched Woody Allen's love letter to the city, Midnight in Paris. I was having Paris withdrawal, so last Friday night I decided we would have a romantic dinner under the stars on our fireside patio.

I planned to make Larry's favorite risotto. It's more work than most recipes I cook, but the flavor is worth it. And cooking risotto together, standing by the stove and stirring, with a glass of wine in hand, is a lovely way to start an evening.

But northeast LA is not Paris.

As Larry was preparing the asparagus purée that flavors the risotto, I looked out the window and saw black oily smoke. I rushed to the street and saw that a van down the block had caught fire. We joined the neighbors lined up on the street to watch. Two fire engines. Eight police cars. The obligatory police helicopter circling overhead.

It wasn't a hostage situation, but it was definitely a two-hour stand-off of some sort. We wandered in and out, cooked a little, turned off the stove and went out to check on the action, cooked some more. I learned that risotto is much more tolerant of abuse than I realized.

With the helicopter continuing to circle, we decided not to eat outside. We sat at the dinette, enjoying our risotto, but distracted by the noise and commotion. As we put down our forks, the helicopter went away, the police tape was taken down, and the neighborhood returned to normal, except for the burned out van and the scorch marks on the house it was parked in front of.

This is a good meal even without the show.

Risotto with Asparagus
1/2 lb asparagus
1 small potato, peeled and chopped
2 cups vegetable stock, approx.
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 small clove garlic, minced
3/4 cup arborio rice
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 tbsp butter
parmesan

Snap ends off asparagus. Cut off the tips and set aside. Chop the stems in 1-inch pieces.

Place the potato and stems into a saucepan, add 1 cup of water and a pinch of salt, and cook until tender, 10-15 minutes. Purée in blender.

Place the reserved tips in a saucepan, add 1 cup water and a pinch of salt, bring to a boil and cook 2-3 minutes. Drain and set aside for garnish.

Heat vegetable stock until barely simmering, keep covered.

Heat oil in a heavy saucepan. Add onion and cook gently until translucent. Stir in the garlic. Add the rice and cook, stirring, about 5 minutes. Add the wine. Allow nearly all of it to evaporate, then begin adding the asparagus purée about 1/4 at a time, adding more as the liquid in the pan evaporates. When you've added all the asparagus purée, start adding the stock a ladleful at a time. Cook, stirring regularly but not continually, until the risotto is plump and offers a little resistance to the bite. The risotto should be very moist. You might not need all the stock.

Stir in the butter and serve at once, garnished with the reserved asparagus tips and parmesan cheese on the side.

Serves 2-3