Risotto with Gorgonzola and Asparagus

Serves 4

2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 shallots, chopped fine
1/2 cup white wine
1-1/2 cups Arborio rice
5 cups chicken broth
3/4 pound fresh asparagus, using tips and upper part of stalk, cut into 1” pieces
4 oz of imported Gorgonzola, broken into chunks
1 Tbsp cream
2 radicchio leaves, chopped julienne
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Put broth in pot and heat to warm.

Heat butter and oil in heavy pot. Add shallots and sauté till soft. Add rice (draining milk, if was used when soaking rice) to pot and coat rice grains evenly with oil. Add white wine and stir until it is completely absorbed.

Start to add a ladle of broth at a time to broth. Add asparagus stalks first (reserving tips) at this time. Wait until broth is absorbed, then continue adding a ladle at a time. After 10 minutes of cooking rice, add the asparagus tips and continue to add broth. Stir lightly, but frequently to prevent sticking. After almost 20 minutes, when rice is al dente, remove from stove, add the gorgonzola and fold in gently with cream.

Serve immediately and garnish with chopped radicchio and Parmesan cheese.

Pair with Ferrari-Carano Reserve Chardonnay or Siena.