SAUSAGE AND ASPARAGUS RISOTTO

The first restaraunt I got the chance to work at was called Panevino "Food for Wine". While catering a wedding Mimi, one of the owners and my close family friend, served a cheese risotto that rocked my world. Since then I've had an obsession with risotto. This is a great risotto recipe for anyone who's trying it out for the first time.

Ingredients:

1 cup arborio rice
1 italian pork sausage
1 spicy pork sausage
1 parmigiano-reggiano rind
1/2 pound asparagus
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup parmigiano-reggiano
1 shallot, finely diced
kosher salt and pepper to taste
italian parsley to taste

Instructions:

1. In a pot bring some water to a boil and cook the asparagus for 6 minutes.

2. In a pan, heat up olive oil on medium-high heat. Remove the casings from the sausage and cook until browned. Remove the meat from the pan.

3. Pour more olive oil into the pan and sauté shallot until translucent.

4. Add the arborio rice and stir for 3-4 minutes. Pour in the wine and cook until reduced by half.

5. Start adding the asparagus stock in ladle's, stirring constantly. Continue until the rice is al dente.

6. Add the asparagus, parsley and sausage meat until rice is fully cooked.

7. Top with parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil. Enjoy!