Fillet Tagliata on a bed of Asparagus Risotto – La Tagliata di Filetto sul Letto di Risotto agli Asparagi

Katariina, a dear friend of mine, encouraged me to make my own stock and freeze it; it turned out to be very useful advice.

Tonight, I prepared some comfort food. In case you’re interested, here’s how to make it:

Take from freezer a block of your own home-made chicken stock and place it into a pot with some water and bring to the boil; you need a bit over 1 litre of stock (better too much than too little). Boil 12 tips of asparagus in the stock for 3 minutes, cool down in an ice-water bath and drain (tips will be used as decor). Chop the remaining spears of asparagus (for the risotto).

Meanwhile, sauté 1 chopped shallot and 2 halved garlic cloves in 2 tbs of extra virgin olive oil and 2 tbs butter in a heavy pot over high heat for 5 minutes. Stir in 2,5 dl of risotto rice and continue stirring until the rice becomes translucent. At this point get rid of the garlic. Add 1dl of white wine and stir until absorbed. Next, mix in the chopped spears of asparagus. Then add 1dl of stock, stir until absorbed, add another 1 dl of stock and stir until absorbed… keep repeating this until the rice is al dente. Finally, stir in a palmful of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and cook for another minute or so, allowing the cheese to melt. The consistency of the risotto should not be too soggy nor too dry.. add more stock if needed.

Somewhere in between stirring the risotto, fry two fillets of beef until medium rare. Season with salt and pepper and slice them.

Prepare the rice bed and place fillets on top, drizzling with reduced cooking juices. Add chopped parsley for décor and taste. Consume immediately.