Recipe Made: Spring Vegetable Risotto

Last night, I made a recipe from Cook's Illustrated - Spring Vegetable Risotto. Both my husband and I agreed, it was absolutely amazing. It was bistro quality, and due to some external interruptions (i.e. extremely cranky 10 month old who needed to go to sleep right when I should be stirring constantly), I was not as attentive as I should have been to a risotto but it still came out perfectly. 

The recipe uses leeks, asparagus, mint and parsley - all things you can get locally this time of year, though the herbs may be a stretch. It also uses lemons, garlic and frozen peas, which makes it a very economical dish for how amazing it is! I would definitely make it again, probably soon while everything is still in season. As with most risottos, it is complicated to make the first time, but next time I could definitely streamline the steps (knowing what you can prep ahead of time is half the battle, and I have found that Cook's Illustrated really does not clearly define this; most times I find at least one "surprise" prep item hidden in one of the steps).

Also, Cook's has this recipe up on their front page for free right now, but it will quickly fall into their Paid Subscription Only section. We do have a Cook's subscription, and it is a great source for recipes, product reviews, etc. The only issue that you need to keep an eye out for is that the online access does NOT come with the magazine subscription. Also, the website recently and silently created two levels of access, so you now need to pay extra for some of their recipes (I don't know what differentiates the two levels). It feels a bit like nickel and diming...just my two cents(/pun).

I would definitely print this recipe out to keep in my spring repertoire!