Asparagus Risotto with Lemon

Steps

1. Rinse the asparagus. Bend each spear near the base: it snaps on its own where the woody part begins. Keep those ends. Cut off the tips 1 1/2 inch (4 cm) long and slice the rest of the stalks into 1/2 inch (1 cm) pieces.
2. Pour the vegetable broth into a saucepan, add the woody ends cut in half, bring to a simmer and let steep, covered, for 15 minutes. Strain, return the broth to the pan and keep it at a bare simmer on a back burner: it needs to stay hot until the end.
3. While it steeps, finely chop the shallots. Zest the lemon and squeeze its juice. Finely grate 80 g (about 3/4 cup) of the hard cheese and shave the remaining 20 g into curls with a vegetable peeler. Dice the butter and keep it in the fridge.
4. In a wide heavy-bottomed sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallots with a pinch of salt and sweat them for 3 minutes, until translucent, without browning.
5. Add the arborio rice and stir for 2 minutes: the grains turn glossy, translucent at the edges with a pearly white center, and crackle softly. Pour in the white wine and stir until it is completely absorbed and the smell of alcohol is gone, 1 to 2 minutes.
6. Add a ladle of hot broth, about 150 ml (2/3 cup), and stir regularly. When the liquid is almost absorbed and the spoon leaves a trail that slowly closes, add the next ladle. Keep a steady gentle bubble over medium heat.
7. After 8 minutes of adding broth, stir in the stalk pieces with the next ladle. After 13 minutes total, add the tips. Keep going for 4 to 5 minutes: the rice is ready when it's tender with a slight firmness at the center, in a loose, flowing sauce. You may have a little broth left over; that's normal.
8. Take the pan off the heat, add a final half ladle of broth and let it sit for 1 minute. Add the cold diced butter and grated cheese, then beat hard with a wooden spoon for 1 minute: the risotto turns creamy and glossy. Stir in half the lemon zest and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, grind in some pepper and adjust the salt.
9. The risotto should be all'onda: it ripples and spreads on its own when you shake the plate. Serve right away in warm bowls, topped with the cheese shavings, a grind of black pepper and the rest of the lemon zest.