The Marilyn Mansion does Jerusalem Artichoke and Asparagus Risotto

So, having got our hands on some more Jerusalem artichokes we decided to put them to use in a risotto. We're not sure where the inspiration came from (yes that's right, we get inspired) but there we go.

The first problem was going to be how to cook the artichokes without making the risotto take up the starch in them and turn to concrete. We settled on blanching them for a few minutes until softening which seemed to work and then stirred into the nearly finished risotto. The asapragus was grilled with oil and stirred into the base risotto with the artichokes and the parmesan.

But let's get to the recipe:

Serves 4:

2 rashers bacon, roughly chopped
rind of one lemon
2 medium onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
8 asparagus tips, sliced diagonally into one-inch chunks
2 jerusalem artichokes, very thinly sliced
300g arborio risotto rice
parmesan cheese, grated
a few sprigs fresh sage
chicken stock (other stocks may very well work better but we didn't have any)
sea salt
black pepper

OK, firstly we fried the bacon until taking on colour, added the onions, garlic and lemon and cooked until softened. In another pan the stock was heated and kept warm. We have only chicken stock to which frozen-fresh sage was added (basically freeze your fresh herbs, well wrapped up--it works a treat).

When the onions were soft the rice was poured in until coated in all the juices in the pan. Then, a couple of ladels at a time (essential) the stock was added to the rice, where it was cooked while stirring all the time (essential) until absorbed and repeated until the rice was cooked to the point of softness, yet still maintaining a bite.

When the rice is almost finished, grill the asapargus until soft, blanche the artichokes and stir in with a grating of parmesan cheese. Season and serve.

The addition of white wine would have worked well. We thought that some juicy inclusion may have added another dimension; something along the lines of cheery tomatoes but not actually tomatoes--just something that would give an extra texture (any ideas?). Perhaps another herb as well...