Risotto with wild asparagus, pumpkin, speck and thyme

This is my second recipe with asparagus. This time I used the wild type, which is thinner and smaller than the cultivated one, but much more tasty. The taste of the wild asparagus is sharp and sometimes a little bitter,  what makes it particularly suitable for the preparation of omelettes and risotto. Here the pumpkin gives a smooth and sweet touch to the risotto, creating a very nice pulpy orange cream. Speck (the smoked ham typical of Tirolo, N Italy) enriches the taste with its salty and spicy character and thyme gives a wonderful scented flavor, perfectly matched with all the ingredients.

The ideal wine for this dish should be a smooth, fresh, fruity and aromatic white, with a good structure, like a Sauvignon blanc, a Ribolla gialla or a Gewürtztraminer. I tried a Sauvignon from the Collio Doc, which was perfect.

Risotto with wild asparagus, pumpkin, speck and thyme

(the recipe is taken from the blog www.peccatidigolaediamicizia.com, makes 6 servings)

350 g  rice, Vialone nano type

1 bunch of wild asparagus

1 thick slice of speck, cut into little cubes

150 g pumpkin, cut into cubes

1/2 chopped onion

1 l vegetable stock

1/2 glass white wine

50 g grated Parmigiano cheese

extra virgin olive oil

a knob of butter

dried thyme

salt

pepper

Clean the wild asparagus, leaving out the woody ends of the stalks, cook with steam for a few minutes. Cut the stalks into little pieces, leave the heads entire. In a pan put a tablespoon extra virgin olive oil and brown the onion for a few minutes. Add the speck and the pumpkin and cook for a couple of minutes. Put salt and pepper (do not salt too much, because speck is very salty). Add rice and toast it till it gets shiny. Add wine and simmer until evaporated. Sprinkle with a touch of thyme. Cook rice adding vegetable stock little by little (the cooking time for Vialone nano is 16/18 minutes). At half cooking, add the pieces of wild asparagus, only the stalks. When the rice is cooked and slightly underdone, stir in a knob of butter and Parmigiano (if someone like it without cheese, just leave it on the table for self-serving).  Decorate with the asparagus heads and serve.