Asparagus and Shrimp Risotto

John and I value home cooking, but sometimes it is hard to create different meals while working. This usually results in dinners becoming, well... boring.  Since the wedding, we have been trying to set good habits for the rest of our marriage.  One of these habits is planning and cooking fun, wholesome meals, even though we have to work.  

Cut to... Asparagus and Shrimp Risotto!

A long time ago I bought Arborio Rice with the best risotto-making intentions.  I stumbled upon this recipe and miraculously had EVERY SINGLE INGREDIENT in the house, including things to make a fish-asparagus broth and a little bit of white wine!  SCORE!

To make this happen on a weeknight, I did all the prep work and set all of the ingredients in the morning.  

 I even laid it out in the order it would need to go into the pot!

This bowl had the onions, asparagus, and LOTS of butter, as you can see.  It went into the pot first, and cooked until the butter melted and the onions were translucent.  I love that word.  Transluuuucent.

Once the onions were transluuuucent, the rice was added.  

John took about 700 photos as I poured the rice in.  Last time I ask HIM to snap an action-cooking shot.

The rice cooked for a while, and then the wine was stirred in.  

When the wine evaporated, the broth was added in slowly, a little at a time, until it was all absorbed.  At that point, the chopped shrimp and asparagus tips were added to the mix.

 When everything looked cooked, some more butter and lots of grated Parmesan Cheese jumped into the pot.  I was too lazy to grate all the cheese, so some is chunky.

That's okay, too!

Words cannot even begin to describe this meal.  It was beyond restaurant quality.  It was all ingredients I had at home.  I knew EXACTLY what was in it.  It rocked.

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