Risotto with Sausage and Asparagus Recipe!

As you all have read, we have been meal planning in our house weekly! So far this is working out really well and it is allowing me to cook more since I know what we are going to have for the evening! For quick and easy meals I use a lot from KraftRecipes.com and I have started referring to Cooking Light for scrumptious dinners! Cooking Light is where I found last night's recipe!

What you'll need:

2 1/2 to 2 3/4 cups lower-sodium chicken broth
2 teaspoons olive oil
3/4 cup Arborio rice
1/3 cup dry vermouth, white wine, or lower-sodium chicken broth {I used the chicken broth because I didn't feel like opening a bottle of wine ~ I know... lazy!}
6 oz. fully cooked Italian-flavored chicken sausage, slicked (1/4 inch)
1 lb. asparagus, sliced (1 inch) (2 cups)
1 cup halved cherry or grape tomatoes {I used grape tomatoes}
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Bring broth to a simmer in medium sauce pan over medium heat. Reduce heat to low; keep broth at a simmer.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat until hot. Cook and stir rice 1 minute. Add vermouth {wine or broth} cook and stir 1 minute or until vermouth {wine or broth} is absorbed. Add 1/2 cup of the broth; cook until broth is absorbed, stirring frequently. Repeat twice, adding 1/2 cup broth at a time. (This process will take about 15 minutes.)

Stir in sausage, asparagus and 1/2 cup of the broth; cook until broth is absorbed, stirring frequently. Add 1/2 cup of broth; cook until asparagus is tender, rice is tender with a slight firmness to the center and mixture is creamy, stirring frequently and adding remaining broth if needed.

Stir in tomatoes; cook until heated through. Stir in cheese, basil, and pepper.

Finished product! 

From my own personal experience, I used all the heated broth in the medium saucepan and then some! I also used 1/4 more cup of Arborio rice just because it looked like it wasn't going to be much. Well the extra made enough for lunch leftovers today! It seemed with the time frame of the recipe that the rice wasn't completely finished so I added more broth and let it simmer for a few. 

This meal turned out far better than I expected! It was so yummy and I'm really looking forward to my lunch today! Enjoy and Happy Thursday!!

XoXo,