• A small serving of risotto as a starter can only ever be a good thing

    Prawn, tomato and asparagus risotto

    Ingredients

    • 1,25L (5 cups) vegetable stock
    • 125ml (½ cup) white wine
    • 8 tiger prawns, cleaned and peeled
    • 50g butter
    • 1 onion, finely chopped
    • 300g (1½ cups) arborio rice
    • 1 x small punnet Rosa tomatoes,
    • halved and some left whole
    • 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and
    • cut into 5cm pieces
    • 40g (½ cup) grated Parmesan +
    • extra, to serve
    • sea salt and freshly ground black
    • pepper, to taste
    • fresh basil, to serve

    Instructions

    1

    Place the stock and wine in a medium saucepan together with the prawns and gently bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer.

    2

    Melt half of the butter in a large frying pan or casserole over low heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until soft.

    3

    Add the rice and coat in the butter. Add enough hot stock to just cover the rice. Cook, stirring occasionally, until absorbed. 4 Add 1 – 2 ladles of stock at a time, stirring well until all the stock has been absorbed before adding more. The rice will become very creamy.

    4

    Add the tomatoes and asparagus, and continue to repeat the process with the stock, for a further 5 minutes. Add the prawns and remaining stock, and cook for another 5 minutes or until the rice is just tender. 6 Stir through the remaining butter and 40g (½ cup) Parmesan, and season to taste. 7 Serve immediately with plenty of fresh basil and extra grated Parmesan.