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Coffee infused, asparagus & lemon risotto
Preparation: 45 minutes – $$ – Easy
“Oh Spring”
I locked down my snowboarding gears and I am now firmly waiting for Spring time! Spring reminds me the long hikes in the mountain fields, picking multicolours flowers, laying on the fresh grass and listening to the reawakening of the wildlife. It’s so magical. Ever since my childhood, I alway loved spending my Spring days outside with the light sunshine and the fresh wind on my skin.
“The winning trio”
Like a tribute to nature’s revival, I wanted to add an unconventional touch with the coffee in the recipe I was thinking about.
Asparagus is one if my favourite vegetable and I take the most advantage of it I can during the 3 weeks of its harvest. 3 weeks is short, I better be ready to eat it almost every single day!
I came up with this creamy & smoothy asparagus risotto and the combination of flavours is insane! The lemon zest bounce back the dish and the coffee brings an unexpected aromatic mushroom tone to the taste.
Just be aware that this risotto doesn’t exactly taste coffee, it only brings an extra flavour. I am trying other dishes were the coffee is much stronger but here, I wanted it minor not to cover up the asparagus. All you need with coffee is to find the right balance.
“Coffee is a flavour enhancer for savoury dishes”
Culinary explorations are going in many directions and coffee has is rights. According to the chef Denny Imbroisi “Coffee fits very well with fat ingredients because it brings a balance”. With an egg, foie gras, cheese, raw meat or fish, marinated or grilled, anyone can try the challenge of this tickled and unconventional touch.
The famous chef Anne-Sophie Pic uses its aromatic complexity to bring lightness in her dishes. Depending on the roasting process and the control of its sourness, coffee can be a great flavour enhancer. You only have to keep in mind that coffee has to be gently infused and not cooked.
The worth thing that could happen would be to hear your hosts saying that your meal has a bitter taste.
Ingredients
600 gr. asparagus
300 gr. risotto rice
2 big garlic cloves
280 gr. onions, sliced
5 tbsp. Mascarpone (you can replace it with cream cheese)
70 gr. Parmesan cheese
1,5 organic lemon zest
10 gr. butter
1 tbsp olive oil
Coffee broth
2 litters water
3 vegetable cube broth
1 tsp salt
1 chilli
2 espresso shots
About 100 gr. coffee ground (I used the left ones from my morning coffee in the french press 🙂 )
Cheesecloth
A few pieces of vegetables you have left like carrots, branches of fennel etc.
Directions
1. To make your bouillon, add all the ingredients in the water expect the coffee ground and boil for about 15-20 minutes. Remove it from the heat, place the ground coffee in the cheesecloth and seal with an elastic band. Add it in the bouillon with the espresso shots. Let it infuse for about 30 minutes or more.
2. Prepare your asparagus by washing them, remove the end of the vegetable and peel the hard part at the bottom. Cut in 3 or 4 pieces and steam them for about 5-7 minutes. Keep the asparagus water.
3. In a large pot, add the butter, the oil, the onion and the garlic. Fry for about 5 minutes till it gets transparent.
4. On hight heat, add the rice and let the grains become a bit transparent too. After 4-5 minutes start to add the vegetable broth.
5. Add 3 big ladles of bouillon and the asparagus water. Star staring and don’t stop until the rice is cooked. As soon as the water evaporates too much, add a ladle of bouillon. You want to have the right consistency, not too liquid and, of course, not to shtick. For this recipe I added 8 ladles of liquid in total, but it all depend on your ladle size’s.
6. Finish with adding the mascarpone, the cheese, the asparagus and the lemon zest. Stir, and it’s ready!
7. Enjoy as much a we did 🙂
>> Keep the bottom of the asparagus for a soup 🙂
