This light and luxuriously creamy Lemon Asparagus Risotto is delightful made in the Instant Pot or on the Stove Top. Packed with asparagus, and bright lemon flavours, it is just the dish you need to celebrate the arrival of spring. As alwasys, please read through the Notes for all my tips on making the best Instant Pot risotto.
Prep Time12 minutesmins
Cook Time25 minutesmins
Total Time37 minutesmins
Servings: 4to 6
Ingredients
1poundasparaguscut into 1 inch pieces, tough ends trimmed and discarded (reserve a few tips for garnish)
2tablespoonsextra virgin olive oil
2medium shallotsfinely diced (or 1/2 of a small onion)
2cupsrisotto ricesuch as arborio, carnaroli, or vialone nano
1/2cupwhite wine
5cupschicken broth, divided
1teaspoonKosher saltplus more to taste
1/2teaspoonfreshly ground pepper
½cupfreshly grated parmesan cheeseplus more for serving
1lemonzested and juiced
2tablespoonsbutter
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions
Heat the broth in the microwave or in a small saucepan set over low heat. Keep broth warm while preparing the other ingredients.
Press the Sauté button on the Instant Pot to high heat. Add 2 cups water and allow to come to a boil. Fill a large bowl with water and ice. Once water is boiling, add the asparagus and simmer for 2-3 minutes total. Turn off the Sauté function and, using mitts, remove the lnstant Pot liner and drain the asparagus. Immediately plunge the aspargus into ice bath to stop from cooking. Alternatively, you can blanch the asparagus on the stove top.
Place liner back in the Instant pot and set Sauté function back to high heat. Before it heats up, add 2 tablespoons olive oil and the shallots (this will pevent the shallots from burning). Sauté the shallots, stirring frequently, just until softened, about 2 minutes (do not allow to brown).
Mix in the rice, salt and pepper and continue to sauté, stirring, until the rice is well coated with the fats and becomes a bit translucent, about 1 minute. Splash in the wine (it should make a sizzle sound when it hits the pan). Allow the rice to absorb the wine, stirring often, about 1-2 minutes. Pour in 4 cups of hot stock and give everything a good stir, scraping up any browned bits.
Close the lid and set the valve to the sealing position. Press "cancel" and now set it to high pressure for 5 minutes. (It will take about 5-8 minutes to reach pressure before beginning to count down.)
When cooking time is done, allow pressure to release naturally for 5 minutes then manually release the pressure. Remove the lid and stir the risotto - note that it will seem like there is too much liquid but once stirred the liquid is absorbed by the rice. Add the asparagus, parmesan, butter, lemon zest and 2 tabelspooons lemon juice.
Give the risotto a good stir, then taste and adjust the seasoning by adding a little more salt or lemon juice, if needed. If the risotto seems a little tight, or dry, add the reserved broth, 1/2 cup at a time, as needed (I always add at least 1/2 cup). Serve immediately with additional grated parmesan, if desired.
Stove Top Instructions
Start by putting the chicken stock in a medium saucepan. Keep it hot at a low simmer.
In a large saucepan, or dutch oven, heat the olive oil, or butter, over medium heat. Add the shallots, a generous pinch of salt, and cook gently until softened, about 4 minutes.
Stir in the rice and cook for a minute or two until it is coated with butter and shiny. Increase the heat slightly, and deglaze the pan by adding the wine. Stir gently until all the liquid has been absorbed.
Add a ladleful of hot stock to the rice, stirring until absorbed. Add another generous pinch of salt. Continue adding the stock – 1 ladleful at a time, stirring frequently and making sure it is absorbed before adding the next ladleful – until the rice is al dente. This will take about 20 minutes, 25-30 if you prefer it less al dente. If possible, reserve 1 ladleful of stock.
Remove from heat and add the asparagus, parmesan, butter, lemon zest and 2 tabelspooons lemon juice. Let the risotto rest for a minute or two. But only a minute or two. Taste and adjust the seasoning by adding a little more salt or lemon juice, if needed. Serve immediately, garnished with a few aspagaus tips and additional grated parmesan, if desired.
Notes
Tips for Better Instant Pot Risotto
Have all the ingredients ready. To experience the very best risotto, it should be served as soon as it is ready. This means once you open the Instant pot lid, you will add the remaining ingredients, and serve immediately. If you wait to grate the cheese, or prepare the asparagus after it is done cooking, the risotto will overcook.
Dice the shallots or onions as small as possible. You want the shallots to melt into the risotto and be barely visible.
Do not brown the shallots or onions. You want to just lightly soften the shallots, not brown them which would change the look and flavour of the risotto. In the Instant Pot you have a little less control over the heat so I like to add the olive oil and shallots before turning on the pot. As soon as the shallots start to soften, add the rice.
Toasting the rice. All risotto recipes will call for "toasting the rice". This means you want to sauté the rice in the oil until coated, but not actually toast the rice. Again, when making risotto, you do not want any of the ingredients to brown.
Use very hot broth. As in the traditional stove top method for cooking risotto, you will need to heat the brothbefbre adding it to the rice. Hot broth will allow the Instant Pot to come to pressure faster, speeds and also prevents the rice from becoming mushy. To make things easier, use the microwave to heat the broth while you chop the shallots, and grate the cheese.
Use less broth. Rice in general needs a lot less liquid to cook in an Instant pot. For this lemon asparagus risotto, we are using half the liquid of a stove top risotto.
Do a 5-minute quick release of pressure. Once the Instant pot reaches pressure, and has started cooking the risotto, don't stray too far from it. You will want to manually release the pressure after 5 minutes exactly, or the risotto will overcook.
Once cooked, add more broth. When you open the lid to look inside of your cooked risotto, you will notice most of the liquid pooled on top of the rice. Don't panic, that is how it is supposed to look. When you give it a stir, the rice immediately absorbs the liquid and will continue to thicken as it cools. At this point, I like to add a little more broth to ensure the rice stays nice and loose and doesn't become tight and dry.
Taste and adjust seasoning. The parmesan cheese adds a lot of af saltiness but I find risotto still needs a bit of seasoning to taste right. Once cooked, taste and add a little more salt or pepper to get it just right.