Ode To Love

February is a funny month for me because I enjoy watching people mad dash to the store to get their sweethearts chocolate and candies because it’s a lot of pressure on the guys. They know if they screw the gift up then they will be in the doghouse. To be honest, is it really all that necessary to put your Love through all that stress? No not really! So this year I made a Valentines dinner for my boyfriend. We do not put a lot of stock on this day as we feel we have 365 days to show our love and appreciation for each other.
This year I had attempted a new recipe called “Italian Love” As some may know I love Italy and attempt to incorporate their food and culture into my household. And today was no different! After being inspired by the memories of our romantic walks and cuddles we took while we were in Venice I decided to make this dish. Though it did not come out the way I wanted, it was tasty and delightful. Two tips I can offer you though is 1. The tomato paste is quite strong and a little will do you! I had forgotten that and I think I added too much in. The rice was to be pink and it came out orange! One thing I do love about Randy is that he will thank me for the effort and then collaborate with me on how to make it better for the next go around. 2. This is the perfect dish to cook with your love or friend because as you cook the rice the other can get the asparagus and lobster prepped and cooked.

Risotto with Asparagus and Lobster

1cup of Arborio Rice
3 cups of Chicken Broth
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 tablespoon butter
¼ cup of white wine
1 teaspoon of Tomato Past
2 Lobster tails
½ pounds of Asparagus Tips
salt and pepper to taste

In a small bowl whisk together, the wine and tomato past until the wine take on a pink hue. Set the mixture aside for later use.

In a medium size pan, heat the Olive Oil and butter together until melted. Add in the Arborio Rice and coat the rice with oil mixture and allow the rice to toast slightly. Then add in your chicken broth, one cup at a time, stirring the rice consistently until the liquid has absorbed. This process should take about 30 to 35 minutes to complete. Once your rice is al dente add the white wine mixture and let the rice absorb the liquid.

As the rice is cooking, chop the asparagus stalks into 1 to 2 inch peaces, saving the stalks for another recipe or discard. In a steamer steam the asparagus until crisp. Do not over cook or you get limpy mushy greens and that is not good eats.

Tip- The easiest way to look your lobster tails is to steam them. When you steam them the tails will curl, if you do not like this curl then you can insert a wooden skewer through them to prevent that from occurring.

Use 2 cups of water and bring to a full boil. Place the two lobster tails in steam colander and cover the pot. Lobsters will turn red and the flesh will become white when cooked. Allow the tails to steam 1 and ½ minute per ounce of lobster meat. Once cooked, remove from the steam colander and run cold water over them, as this will stop the cooking process and allows you to remove the meat.

Once your rice is finished cooking transfer it to a bowl, add the asparagus tips and lobster meat to garnish and enjoy.