Asparagus, Pea and Courgette Risotto

A springtime risotto of fresh garden peas, asparagus, courgette, and lots of lemon and parsley!

This risotto is deliciously light and zesty, perfect for lunch or dinner.

By adding the pea pods, asparagus stalks and celery leaves to the stock, the flavour of the risotto is tremendously enhanced, and every part of the vegetable is used up.

I chose to add a spoonful of soya butter towards the end of cooking to enrich the risotto and create an even creamier texture, however this is not essential and you may omit this step.

Ingredients:

500ml vegetable stock

4 asparagus spears (plus 1 extra spear per person to serve)

200g peas in the pod

Half a courgette

Large glug of olive oil

1 medium onion

1 stick of celery

1 large clove of garlic

150g risotto rice

75ml white wine

1 tsp non dairy butter

1/2 a lemon

Handful of fresh parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1) Remove the peas from their pods, chop off the rough ends of the asparagus stalks and chop off the celery leaves. Place in a large saucepan with the stock and simmer whilst you prepare the other ingredients.

2) Chop the 4 asparagus spears into 4 (if the bottom of the stalks are rather thick then chop these in half length ways, so all the pieces are roughly the same size). Chop the courgette in half length ways and slice into fairly chunky segments. Leave to one side with the peas.

3) Finely chop the onion, celery and garlic. Heat the olive oil in a heavy based sauce pan. Cook the onion and celery for 5 minutes, until soft. Add the garlic and stir for a further minute. Then add the risotto rice and continue to stir for a further 3-4 minutes until the grains start to become see through. Add the wine and stir until it simmers off completely.

4) Add a ladle of stock and stir intermittently until all of the liquid has been absorbed by the rice. Repeat this process until the majority of the stock is used up, this should take about 15 minutes.

5) Stir in the asparagus, peas and courgette and keep adding more stock and cooking for a further 10 minutes. Remember to keep stirring!

6) Towards the end of cooking, once the vegetables are tender, stir in the non dairy butter, juice of half a lemon, the chopped parsley, and season to taste.

7) Take the risotto off the heat. Chop the extra asparagus spears in half length ways and fry in another saucepan for about 5 mins until tender. Serve the risotto with the extra asparagus spears draped over the top, a sprig of parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice!

Enjoy x