Asparagus, Goat's Cheese & Lemon Risotto

1. Peel and finely chop the onions. Melt the butter in a large pan over a medium-low heat, then add the onions. Season with a pinch of pepper (the Italian herb blend contains salt, so you may not need to add extra salt). Cook, stirring every so often, for 8 mins till the onions have softened.

2. While the onions fry, fill and boil your kettle. Sprinkle the bouillon powder into a heatproof jug and stir in 1.5 ltrs hot water till the bouillon has dissolved. Finely grate the zest from the lemon. Bend the asparagus spears till they snap, set the woody ends aside and chop the asparagus tips into chunks around 2cm long (see our tip on what to do with the woody asparagus ends).

3. Stir most of the lemon zest and the Italian herb blend into the onions (keep a pinch of lemon zest back for garnishing). Add the rice and stir to mix. Cook, stirring often, for 3 mins till the rice is a little translucent at the edges.

4. Add a splash of stock to the pan – around 100ml. Cook, stirring once or twice, till the rice has absorbed the stock. Add another 100ml stock to the pan and repeat, cooking till the stock is absorbed. Continue till you have around 200ml stock left. This should take around 20-25 mins.

5. Pick the sage leaves off their woody stems and finely slice them.

6. Add the asparagus to the risotto and pour in another 100ml stock. Cook, stirring as before, then add the remaining stock, and cook and stir till most of the stock has been absorbed. It should take you around 30 mins to cook the risotto.

7. Stir most of the sage and most of the goat’s cheese into the risotto. Squeeze in a little juice from the lemon. Taste and add more lemon juice, salt or pepper, if you think it needs it. Spoon the risotto into four warm bowls and top with the remaining sage, lemon zest and goat’s cheese to garnish.

8. No Waste, More Taste
You can turn the woody ends of the asparagus into pesto. Just pop them in a processor and blitz to finely chop, them then add a handful of fresh herbs, like mint, parsley, coriander or basil. Add a handful of nuts, like pine nuts, walnuts or almonds, a finely chopped garlic clove and a pinch of salt. Blitz again to combine, then slowly trickle in some olive oil till you have a smooth pesto. Taste, add some salt if needed. Store the pesto in a tub or jar in the fridge. It can be stirred into pasta, potatoes or rice, spread over pizza bases, drizzled over soups and dolloped into salad dressings.