Mushroom & Asparagus Risotto

I made this with my 5 year old. She can be somewhat choosy in her foods but is really enjoying learning in the kitchen and having a hand in all things meals. We had a lot of fun with this one and the finished product was excellent. 

I’d suggest being casual with the ingredients and use what you like. Being liberal with veggie, or even cheese substitutions will likely yield good results.

Note this requires about 30+ minutes of active time to ensure the pasta doesn’t burn.

Yield: 4

Mushroom & Asparagus Risotto

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Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 TBs of EVOO Plus 1 Tbls of EVOO
• 4 clovs of garlic
• 1 TBL of butter
• Half cup chopped mushrooms - baby bellas are great
• Half cup of chopped asparagus, using only the tender top 2-3 inches
• 4 cups of chicken or veggie broth (low sodium is a good option here
• 1 and ½ cup of Risotto
• ½ cup of dry white wine or broth
• Salt and Pepper
• Fresh parsley (we use flash dried which has great shelf life and is far better than dried parsley in most dishes)
• ¼ lemon for brightening
• Hard cheese such as parmesan
• Serve with parsley, a squeeze of lemon, and grated cheese.

Instructions

1. Heat Tbb Oil and ½ of the Butter in a heavy stock pot
2. Sautee the Veggies until tender yet firm, salt and pepper to taste
3. Add the garlic, cook for 30 seconds and remove from heat
4. Heat the remaining oil and butter and add risotto
5. Cook until shiny and lighty toasted, 5-7 minutes
6. Add ½ cup of wine or broth and simmer until dissolved
7. Add Broth 1 cup at a time simmering and stirring until dissolved before adding more broth
8. As the cooked risotto continues to cook and resembles a thick stew, take off the heat.
9. Gently stir in the reserved veggies and heat thoroughly. 
10. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Get Kids involved! 

I had my 5 year old clean the mushrooms, stir the sauteeing veggies, add the seasonings and broth all the while keeping the stirring going in order to prevent burning. Thinking back she did just about everything in fact. About the only thing she didn’t do was cut the vegetables. She had a great time, we did it safely and used a step stool all thorough-out. 

About the only drawback is that the recipe from start to finish; is its about an hour with most of that active in some way.

– Enjoy!