Spring risotto

Instructions

1. Step 1

   First make the mint oil by blitzing together the mint, oil and lemon juice in a mini chopper.

2. Step 2

   Fill a bowl with ice and top up with water, then plunge in the green spring onion ends – they should curl up while you make the risotto. In a pan, bring the stock to just below the boil over a medium heat and poach the asparagus spears for 2 mins, then remove with tongs. Chop the stalks into 1.5-2cm wide discs and leave the tips intact. Put the frozen peas into a bowl and pour over a ladle of warm stock to defrost them.

3. Step 3

   Put a large casserole or deep frying pan over a low heat. Melt the butter into the oil and fry the spring onion whites and bay leaf for 3 mins until soft and fragrant. Turn up the heat to medium-high, add in the rice and coat in the fat, cooking for a few minutes until the rice has absorbed some of the fat and is glossy and slightly translucent at the edges. Pour over the wine or vermouth and cook, stirring, until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add the lemon zest and then a ladleful of the warm stock, and stir, cooking until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Continue to cook the risotto over a low medium heat for 20-25 mins, stirring and adding the stock a ladleful at a time, allowing it to be absorbed completely before you add the next one, and keeping the rice moving to cook it evenly and help it release its starch.

4. Step 4

   Once the rice is puffed and tender all the way through, with no chalky core (you may not need to use up all the stock), pour over the peas and their stock, and stir them into the risotto. Add the asparagus stalks, tips and broad beans, cooking for a few minutes to heat through. Turn off the heat, remove the bay leaf and stir in the knob of butter, along with the parmesan, adding some truffle butter or oil, if you like. Taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly, then spoon into warm bowls and use the back of a spoon to create a shallow well in the rice.

5. Step 5

   Carefully put the egg yolks in the wells and then top with some of the green spring onion. Spoon over a little of the mint oil and stir everything together to enrich with the egg yolk and crunchy spring onion.