Green Vegetable Risotto

Somehow, all my weekend cooking ended up green, and not in any shade that photographs well. An otherwise very good lentil-based curry turned a yellow-ish green with shreds of cabbage adding to the overall effect. And I tried my hand (for the first time!) at a risotto but fell short of the pearly white dish I was going for. I think I would have been better off using homemade vegetable stock, or at least watering down my store-bought variety. It gave the rice a slightly yellow shade, offset by the green vegetables. The risotto was particularly good though, so here's the recipe without an accompanying picture ;-)

INGREDIENTS (serves 6):

300 g of Arborio rice (or other types of rice appropriate for risotto)
1 litre of vegetable stock
80 g of butter
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
1 glass of white wine
100 g of green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
100 g of peas, fresh or frozen
100 g of asparagus, frozen, cut into 1-inch pieces
parsley, chopped
100 g of Parmesan cheese, grated
oil
pepper

PREPARATION:

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add olive oil and stir in onion and fry for 3 to 4 minutes until just golden. Add garlic and stir about 2 more minutes.

Add rice while still stirring. Continue stirring and add white wine. Once all the wine has been absorbed or has evaporated, add the vegetables and cover with broth. Stir and let simmer in a soft murmur (no boiling waters) until the liquid has been absorbed. Gradually add water or stock about 1/4 cup at a time. Continue stirring. As liquid is absorbed add another 1/4 cup. Continue stirring and adding stock or water until mixture reaches desired consistency and rice is tender.

When the rice is ready, mix in pepper, butter and Parmesan cheese. Add parsley and serve.

The recipe comes from marmiton.org. It's not hard but it's extremely time consuming, so this is not good on a day when you are in a rush! Count on being at the stove almost an hour, stirring the rice while it cooks.