Trader Joe’s ‘Spearean Risotto

I never really had risotto until this year. It was always one of those things I saw on TV or in magazines, but was too lazy to cook it myself. Then, I tasted it made it from scratch one day and fell in love! This stuff is GOOD!

So, I went to Trader Joe’s the other day and saw this ‘Spearean Risotto. It said it was a “Creamy risotto with a generous amount of savory and crisp cut asparagus spears”, according to the package. The package also said Trader Giotto’s, which I thought was cute instead of Trader Joe’s : )

I opened up the package and saw risotto, pieces of asparagus, and rather large green squares. I thought the squares were a bit bizarre, but I assumed it would melt down to make the sauce.

I prepared it in a frying pan on the stove. One thing I noticed was that there was NOT a “generous amount” of asparagus. There was maybe 10-15 pieces, not whole pieces, in the whole thing. I kind of expected that- I feel like what is depicted on the package rarely lives up to what is actually on the inside.

Anyway- after cooking, it turned into a creamy dish that was a pale yellow-green in color. I took a bite, and was certainly pleased. It was sort of like a combination of macaroni and cheese and chicken noodle soup for flavor. That rich, buttery taste with a cheese undertone and that chicken stock flavor as well. Really tasty! The risotto was a bit chewy, certainly not mushy, and really quite good. I wish it was a bit more tender, so if I buy this again I’lll probably cook it for a bit longer. The asparagus, one of my least favorite vegetables, was actually quite good. It was surprisingly tender! I feel like everytime I eat asparagus I am disappointed by the overly chewiness it has, and just bland flavor. The asparagus in this dish was actually quite good.

Overal, I liked this! I would buy it again. I had it with steamed broccoli and a vegetarian style chicken patty and called it dinner. One thing I didn’t like was that the sodium was kind of high, 650 mg for one cup, and it didn’t even really taste that salty. 4 stars

1 cup (140 grams) is 170 calories, 4 grams of fat, 28 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 2 grams of sugar and 5 grams of protein.

Do you eat risotto? What’s your favorite way to make/eat it?