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Photo of Lemon risotto with spring vegetables by WW

Lemon risotto with spring vegetables

6
Points® value
Total Time
43 min
Prep
10 min
Cook
33 min
Serves
8
Difficulty
Moderate
This bright risotto is comforting and colourful, and worth the time and effort it takes to make it. It’s certainly impressive enough for your next dinner party. We’ve flavoured this one with delicate spring vegetables and fresh lemon. Arborio rice is the rice of choice for risottos as it has a high starch content that slowly releases into the pot as it cooks, helping give risotto its creamy and luscious signature texture. You can use carnaroli or vialone nano in place of arborio, if you like. For an alcohol-free risotto, you can omit the wine and increase the chicken broth to 6 cups.

Ingredients

Asparagus

1 pound(s), trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

Table salt

1 tsp(s)

Reduced-sodium chicken broth

5½ cup(s)

Olive oil

1 tbsp(s)

Uncooked leek

2 medium, cleaned and chopped

Garlic

3 clove(s), large, minced

Fresh thyme

1 tsp(s), chopped

Uncooked arborio rice

1½ cup(s)

White wine

⅓ cup(s)

Frozen green peas

1 cup(s), thawed

Fresh lemon juice

3 tbsp(s)

Lemon zest

1 tsp(s), grated

Grated Parmesan cheese

½ cup(s), fresh

Black pepper

¼ tsp(s), freshly ground

Instructions

  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the asparagus and salt, and cook just until bright green, 2 minutes. Drain and rinse the asparagus in a colander under cold running water to stop cooking; set aside.
  2. Bring the broth to a gentle simmer in a large saucepan over medium-low heat; reduce the heat and keep at a simmer.
  3. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet. Sauté the leeks, garlic, and thyme until the leeks begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the rice and cook, stirring, until the outer shell is translucent, about 1 minute. Stir in the wine and cook, stirring constantly, until it is absorbed. Add the broth 1 cup at a time, stirring until it is absorbed before adding more, until the rice is just tender but still slightly toothy. Add the asparagus, peas, lemon juice, and lemon zest with the last (1⁄2-cup) addition of broth. The cooking time from the first addition of broth should be about 22 minutes. Stir in the cheese and pepper; serve immediately.
  4. Yields 1 cup per serving.

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