Goat Cheese and Asparagus Risotto

I woke up this morning in pain. It took me a good 20 minutes of pondering off and on before I realized why my poor little arms were so sore ... snow shoveling. I also had plans for a delicious brunch this morning, but then my brunch partner called to cancel ... something about not wanting to brave the snow/sleet combination to drive back to the island and my resolve to walk to brunch crumbled in the face of entirely too much snow. Instead, I ended up at the Val-Mont staring at a bundle of delicious looking asparagus for only $2. Winter, you may leave me in pain and ruin my brunch plans, but I'm going to live in denial and pretend it's spring. I decided to throw together some flavours that make me happy ... asparagus, goat cheese, and prosciutto. The goat cheese may overpower the prosciutto a bit, but this little creation still makes me happy. The trick while cooking this is to not eat too much asparagus and prosciutto while the risotto is cooking ... or maybe that's the key to this meal.

Goat Cheese and Asparagus Risotto

Ingredients
1 bundle asparagus
olive oil
salt and pepper
2 tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup arborio rice
4 cups chicken broth (more or less)
2 tbsp lemon juice (more or less)
1/2 cup dry white wine
70g goat cheese with fine herbs
4 slices prosciutto, torn into slivers

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Bring the chicken broth and lemon juice to a simmer in a pot.
2. Snap asparagus stalks into bite-sized pieces. Place in an oven safe dish. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Roast the asparagus in the oven for 10 - 12 minutes while you start cooking the risotto.
4. In a deep skillet, melt the butter and fry the garlic.
5. Add the rice and brown in the melted butter for 1 minute or so.
6. Add the white wine and simmer until wine is absorbed.
7. Add a cup of broth and stir. Simmer until broth is absorbed.
8. Continue adding broth 1 or 2 ladles at a time, stirring, and simmering to absorb the broth until rice is cooked.
9. Remove from heat. Stir in goat cheese until melted.
10. Stir in asparagus and prosciutto, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.