2-4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

40g butter

½ white onion (Spanish if possible)

1 small stick of celery

300g asparagus

175g arborio risotto rice

100ml white wine

800ml chicken (or vegetable) stock

150g frozen peas

25g parmesan

1. Peel and finely dice the onion.
2. Finely dice the celery.
3. Remove the woody ends from the asparagus (or peel the woody section with a vegetable peeler to remove the tough stalk).
4. Cut off the asparagus tips and set aside, then cut the asparagus stalks into 1cm slices.
5. Grate the parmesan.
6. Place the stock into a pan and warm until the stock is hot. (I turn the heat off at this point).
7. Melt half the butter in the bottom of a lidded pan, along with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil.
8. Once the butter has melted, add the onion, celery and asparagus and cook slowly over a low heat until the onion turns translucent.
9. Now throw in the rice and stir to combine.  Once the rice starts to make a cracking noise and turns slightly translucent at the edges, add the white wine. Stir.
10. After a couple of minutes add two ladles of hot chicken stock and stir until most of the liquid has absorbed.
11. Continue to add the stock a ladle at a time and keep stirring until nearly all of the stock has been used.
12. Mix in the frozen peas with the last of the stock until the consistency resembles that in the image.
13. Take off the heat and season well.  Now stir in the remaining butter and the parmesan.  Cover and leave to stand.
14. Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a small frying pan, and once up to temperature throw in the asparagus tips and sauté until the tips are starting to slightly brown at the edges and are just cooked through.
15. Serve the risotto topped with the asparagus tips and more parmesan!