Pasta - Risotto Style
- 1 pound asparagus
- 3 tablespoons butter or extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 pound penne, gemelli, or other cut pasta
- 6 to 8 cups good beef or chicken stock, heated
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, optional
Instructions:
The concept is simple, it makes sense—pasta, like Arborio and other rices used for risotto, is plenty starchy enough—and it just takes the use of good stock and a vegetable to make the dish delicious.
- Break the woody ends from the asparagus and peel the stalks if necessary. (If you use thin asparagus you won’t have to peel them at all; thicker asparagus should be peeled from the bottom of the flower to the end of the stalk.) Break or cut off the flower ends and cut the stems into ½-inch sections (it looks a little nicer if you cut the stems on a diagonal, but this is hardly essential).
- Put 1½ tablespoons butter or oil in a deep 10- or 12-inch skillet or a broad saucepan and turn the heat to medium-high. When the butter melts, add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally until softened and beginning to brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally until it begins to brown, about 5 minutes more.
- Add a ladleful of stock. As the stock is absorbed and the pasta swells, add more stock and continue to stir once in a while, until the pasta is beginning to become tender, about 5 minutes. Add the asparagus stalks and continue to add stock as needed, until the pasta is just about done, another 5 minutes or so.
- Add the asparagus tips and a little more stock, stirring until the tips are crisp-tender, the pasta is cooked to your liking, and the mixture is moist but not soupy (add a little more stock if necessary). Stir in the remaining 1½ tablespoons butter or oil and the cheese and serve.