There should be a BIG WARNING on all risotto recipes that says "You will be standing in front of the stove stirring this for 30-40 minutes". Other than that it was a pretty easy recipe to make. Although the recipe I was following didn't make it clear what parts could be easily parallelized. So I've learned: when making risotto, heat up that broth/stock ASAP and get that rice cooking. Luckily I've got an electric kettle so heating up the broth was a snap. In the end we had, I thought, some very yummy mushroom and asparagus risotto. A little lemon zest added some brightness to the dish.

The only problem: Laura got violently ill not long after dinner. Now, I don't think it was my cooking since I'm fine, but I have no doubt that Laura won't be eating my risotto dishes for a long time. Hey, I've done it to her in the past. The same thing happened to me after visiting one of Laura's favorite resturants in Wakefield. I think it was about 2 years before I could go back there.