I’m being an optimist. Officially it’s 19 days til spring and my fingers are crossed that spring will arrive. It’s turning out to be a lovely day today with barely a cloud in the sky. This afternoon snow should be wandering through for the next few days again.
The kids have enjoyed their downtime this past week being off from school and it’s been relatively quiet which is nice. We’re not those parents that schedule their kids within an inch of their lives but it is nice to have a break in routine.
There was a request for risotto as we haven’t had that recently so I decided to switch it up a bit. We had some asparagus that needed to be used up and I thought pancetta would be a great pairing.
For risotto I always prepare the ingredients before I start cooking to keep it easy. I sliced up half a red onion, chopped 4-5 cloves of garlic, and cut up the asparagus. While I am doing this I heat up the stock for the risotto. The ratio I used is 5 cups to about 1 1/4 cup of risotto.
In a large pan melt a couple of tablespoons of butter and saute the onions until softened. Then add the garlic and chopped up pancetta. I found this pancetta at the co-op that was uncured and thinly sliced. I think next time I will get thicker sliced pancetta because while this was tasty the flavour wasn’t as bold as I was hoping for.
After a couple of minutes add the risotto. Stir well then add about a third of a cup of white balsamic vinegar.
Gradually add the heated stock stirring well. As the liquid is absorbed add more.
While this is simmering I grated parmesan, asiago, and fontina cheese until I had just over a cup. In the last five minutes of cooking or so add the cheese.
In the last few minutes add the asparagus. You still want it bright and crunchy. Nothing worse than overdone asparagus. Also the risotto should be on the slightly al dente side. Not crunchy but firm.
With the three cheeses this was really creamy. And it is hard to go wrong with a bit of bacon. And the plates were cleared quickly so that is always a good sign. 🙂
I may have asked this question already so if I did I apologise but with new tablets out now I was wondering for those who use their tablets to blog, what do they use? I need one that I can easily transfer pictures from my camera to the tablet then put watermarks on. I think the big sticking point is getting the pictures from the camera to the tablet so I can blog on the go. Thank you for any advice!
I was just thinking the same thing – asparagus have become reasonable again in my suoermarket and maybe I could make risotto. I don’t usually add meat but I would like to try your version with pancetta.
I could not find a tablet that I liked for blogging and bought a small laptop from Hewlett Packard to take with me when I am at not home to use my PC. I use Google Chrome Documents and since it is web-based everything can be synced between computers.
This would work really well as vegetarian as well. Just use veg stock.
While I do put my stuff up on the blog, pinterest, etc I prefer to have my computers, tablets, synced at home on our own server rather than a cloud. The Surface 8 seemed a possiblity but their apps are few and far between. Not sure what I want has been created yet!
Have you asked the lovely WordPress people on the forum/help pages? With my next new job I’m going to treat myself to a tablet so will be watching this space 🙂
I should check out the forums. Thanks for the advice!
Let me know if there’s any sage advice!
I will. 🙂
Yum!!!!!
Thank you. 🙂
Mmmm… Risotto is one of those dishes that have intimidated me, but your instructions make it sound achievable!! Thanks, Virginia, I’m looking forward to trying this!
I’m curious to hear answers to your tablet question too. I don’t have one, but I would also like a more portable system. I’m tempted by the small HP laptop with the screen that detaches to function as a tablet.
I had the same thought until I tried it. Quite easy though! 😊
Yes, many are hoping for spring, some for rain, and some for the rain to stop. 😉
I’ve learned how to make risotto and now I appreciate every risotto post. This step-by-step preparation is very helpful.
You would think based on the cooking shows this dish is one of the hardest to make! But it’s not. Thank goodness. 😄
We often have risotto but I have never thought of adding balsamic vinegar. Nice idea.
I’ve used both regular balsamic and the white. A nice change from wine or sherry.
The balsamic is a lovely change from wine, I’m going to try it next time.
I usually blog on my iPhone; wordpress had a very user friendly ap in the past. Word marks can be added in Art Studio a Lite which is a similar program to Adobe Illustrator. Photoshop Express can be used to tweak or colour correct the photos. Both are a bit cumbersome to use on the iPhone, but they work when your on the go. I usually only take photos with my iPhone these days.
I will probably do some posts on the fly with my iPhone as the app is much improved. But I love my slr despite recent issues! Which we’re sorting. So I don’t want to give up the slr when I travel. I get better photos.
I hope you like the risotto with the balsamic! 😊
Nice risotto indeed. On the tablet end of things, I have given up trying to post that way. I am very much an Apple fan, using Iphone, Ipad and Mac Pro laptop. I use the laptop for editing, posting and commenting. The tablet is not powerful enough for the photo processing and I hate the fiddly interface keyboard.
Goodness, I am grumpy this evening!
If that is your grumpy then you are very even keeled! 🙂 I really like the iPad but not sure it would meet what I need. I may have to just settle for doing some posts on the fly with the tablet and the rest of the blogging on my laptop at home. My current tablet died a few days ago. As far as we can tell there isn’t a chance of revival. Annoying!
This is such a great dish. One of my favorites of Spring is risotto with asparagus. Well, anything with asparagus is bound to be a favorite in Spring. Like Conor, I’m an Apple guy and I rarely use my iPad for blog work. When I do, to avoid using that keyboard, I bought a small, inexpensive portable keyboard. Makes typing so much easier.
Maybe using the asparagus will inspire spring to show up! 🙂 Thank you for your feedback on the tablets. I don’t mind using the touch screen keyboards too much. Once I got used to them. But I’ll keep that option in mind.
I find people are so afraid to make risotto, but it’s really quite easy! However, I simply have to make mine with half wine/half stock. One of my favorites is Rachael Ray’s recipe for Drunken Risotto which is made with red wine, sausage, and plenty of spinach for a one-pot meal. But there is something so warm and lovely about white risotto with mushrooms and butter.
I know! Risotto isn’t hard. Red wine with sausage sounds fabulous. I’ll be trying that.