Utilizing Leftover Ingredients - Veggies and Parmesan Risotto

Ouch!
Why do I keep hurting myself?
Few weeks ago a tiny piece of my finger nail got chipped by a butcher knife,
Then the food poisoning thing after Shanghai trip,
Now my hand just got burned by 95 degrees Celsius water..

Sadly I'm not even a chef, otherwise maybe I can blame all these injuries to occupational hazard,
Or maybe it can be categorized as food blogger's occupational hazard?

Either way, even though the distance between a home cook like me and a professional chef is like comparing lean ground meat to Kobe beef,
At least the spirit remains,
Patch up my burned wounds, let's keep cooking!

Utilizing leftover ingredients, veggies and Parmesan risotto -

Ingredients (for 4 to 6 portion)?
2 1/2 cups of Arborio rice
2 cups of mushroom mix
1 cup of smoked ham
1 1/2 cups of grated Parmesan cheese
5 3/4 cups of unsalted chicken stock 
8 asparagus
1 big shallot
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

How?

Dice the shallot and chop the asparagus, smoked ham into smaller pieces,
As for the mushroom mix, you can use any kind of preferred mushroom,
Remove any tough stems and cut into smaller pieces,
Grate the Parmesan cheese and set aside.

Have a medium sized pot fill with chicken stock,
Bring that to a boil then turn off the heat,
We gonna use warm/room temperature chicken stock while making risotto.

A big, non-stick pot will be a perfect tool for this dish,
Add in olive oil, butter, and chopped shallot into the pot,
Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon of salt and equal amount of pepper,
Turn to medium high heat,
Give it a quick stir and cook till the shallot turns translucent.

Toss in asparagus and cook for couple minutes,
Next, add the mushroom and sprinkle the additional 1/4 teaspoon of salt into the mixture,
You can also add more black pepper if desired,
Cook for few more minutes.

Pour in the rice and mix till every grain is evenly coated with the veggie juice,
To cook the rice, add a small amount of warm chicken stock at a time and stir once a regularly,
Add more stock when the liquid has been absorbed by the rice,
Repeat the steps till the grains reach desired texture, al dente per my case.

Mix in 4/5 of the grated Parmesan cheese,
What about the remaining cheese?
Just sprinkle them on the top of the risotto before serving,
That way, you get a clear cheesy bite together with the oozing cheese between the grains.

Remember do not add too much salt while following this recipe,
The reason is that cheese and smoked ham are quite salty already,
So please taste the mixture before sprinkle more seasonings into the pot.

Besides grated Parmesan,
I also sprinkle more freshly ground black pepper on top before serving,
No more unwanted leftover ingredients,
Just a little more thoughts, you can make a yummy meal with all that miscellaneous stuff in the fridge.

Just be careful don't cut, bruise, or burn yourself in the kitchen....like me...
( T 口.T )*

Cindy's Rating: 7