Marc’s Kick-Ass Lowfat Risotto with Asparagus and Morels*©
No cream, no butter, no wine — Serves 2 as a main dish, 4 as a side dish
Ingredients
1 cup of Risotto
1 bunch of average-size asparagus (Peeled to remove the green skin)
2 cups of fat-free/MSG-free chicken or vegetable stock (or 2 vegetable bouillon cubes)
3 Tbsp of dry mushrooms (Morels or Porcini) soaked for 1 hour in the stock
2 Tbsp of parmesan cheese (get very good block cheese and grate it finely)
Thyme 4 sprig (or ¼ tsp dry) Salt to taste
The good part about this recipe is that all the flavors are concentrated and the vitamins stay in. Because you don’t use water, you soak the mushrooms and cook the asparagus in the (same) stock that is used for making the risotto.
Substitutions: For people who don’t like risotto, brown rice is an alternative that could be used for this recipe. For the chicken stock, we used fat-free/MSG-free Swanson canned chicken stock, but we actually prefer home made.
Dried Morel Mushrooms
*We love the morel mushrooms; however, they are less available and about three times as expensive as porcini mushrooms. The latter can be substituted in this recipe.
TIP: How to Peel and Dice Asparagus
When used as an ingredient in a recipe like risotto, asparagus should be peeled; otherwise they are tough and stringy or you just use the tips. It’s usually the bottom two-thirds that need peeling. When dicing asparagus, cut them on a bias.
Directions
- Plan ahead. Soak the dry mushrooms in a ½ cup of the chicken/vegetable stock (Don’t over-soak them; when they plump up, they are ready to use.) Save the soaking stock, and place in a small skillet.
- Add the thyme and bay leaf to the soaking liquid. Use half a can of store bought chicken stock, cook for five minutes and remove the bay leaf and thyme.
- Dice the asparagus in ½ – ¾ inch lengths (as shown)
- Cook in the stock for a few minutes until al dente. Remove and let cool down immediately to preserve its green color.
- Place the risotto in a pan, add ½ cup of stock, and bring to a simmer while stirring with a wooden spoon
- Once the liquid has been soaked by the rice, add another ½ cup following the same procedure as earlier until the risotto becomes creamy and al dente, should take about 20 minutes. Towards the end, if you need more liquid (than two cans of stock), add water ½ cup at a time
- Finally add the asparagus, mushrooms, parmesan cheese, and salt to taste
- Serve immediately
This dish is full-flavored without any fat, except for the two tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese that is used for flavoring.
Jamie’s comments: This risotto is wonderful as a brunch dish, as a side dish, or as an entrée. I love to serve this with a large simple salad. My favorite is just cut-up romaine lettuce with a light application of my “every-day vinaigrette.” With a crunchy salad, this risotto is almost like a salad topping, and the flavor and texture combo is terrific.
