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Asparagus Risotto & Italian Sausage

Ingredients:

  • Mariano’s Italian Sausage (hot or mild)
  • Asparagus
  • Shallots
  • Olive Oil
  • Carnaroli Rice
  • Beef &/or Chicken Broth
  • White Wine
  • Italian Parsley
  • Butter
  • Saffron
  • Grana Padano &/or Peccorino Romano Cheese
  1. Remove the Italian Sausage casing, and slice link into thirds. Add to a pan with Olive Oil over medium high heat.
  2. Wash your asparagus. Chop up the asparagus, and a shallot into similar sized pieces. Don’t use the final third of the Asparagus for this step, as it’ll be too tough for this dish. 
  3. Add the chopped vegetables to a pan with Olive Oil, and set to medium high heat.
  4. Remove the sausage from the pan, and into a food processor or blender. If you don’t have one of those, chop the sausage as fine as you can with a knife. Add the minced sausage to the pan with the vegetables. 
  5. After the Shallot and Asparagus have softened, and the sausage is cooked through, add the Carnaroli rice to the pan. Give it a quick stir, and add a glass of white wine. Make sure you hear the liquid sizzle, or else you won’t be burning off the alcohol. 
  6. Slowly add the Broth to the rice. Keep stirring, and adding a small amount of broth whenever the rice gets dry. Repeat this process until the rice is nearly cooked through.
  7. Add some chopped Italian Parsley, and a pinch of Saffron to the pan. Stir until the Saffron becomes fragrant, and the rice takes on a rich, yellow colour.
  8. Add 1 tbsp of butter if you’re making rice for about 4 or 5 people.
  9. At this point, you should be near the end of the cooking process for the rice. When the rice is fully cooked, sprinkle some grated Grana Padano &/or Peccorino Romano cheese on top.
  10. Transfer to a serving dish, and enjoy!