To begin, trim the ends off the asparagus and chop your asparagus into ¾ inch pieces. Bring a medium sauce pan filled with water to boil. Once boiling generously salt the water, return to a boil and add the chopped asparagus. Cook for 2 minutes, drain and set aside.

In the drained saucepan heat 2 cups vegetable broth with 1 cup water. Bring to a simmer.

In a 12 inch skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook about 3 minutes. Stir in the ariboro rice to the pan and cook until translucent, about 2-3 minutes.

Carefully pour the wine into the pan and stir, allowing the rice to absorb the crisp wine. If you are not using wine simply replace the wine with additional broth or water. Next add in 1/4 cup of the water/broth mixture. Stir and allow rice to absorb between each addition. At the beginning it will absorb more quickly, as time goes on it will take a little longer for the additional liquid to absorb.

Do not rush this process by increasing the heat, this ensures the risotto fully absorbs the liquid to make a soft and tender risotto. If you increase the heat, the rice will not absorb enough liquid and your risotto will be crunchy.

Once all of the liquid has been absorbed into the rice, salt and pepper the dish and squeeze lemon juice into the risotto. Toss in the blanched asparagus and allow flavors to marry for about 3-5 minutes.

Serve and garnish with additional lemon juice and chopped basil.