Asparagus and Pancetta Risotto

We had some left over asparagus that I’d bought on Thursday at the “farmer’s market”* in Hammersmith. It was getting a little past its prime, so we made it into risotto instead of just eating it on its own. We boiled up the stalk ends (and also the stalk ends that we’d kept from last night) to make an asparagussy stock, which worked well.

*I use quotes because there are really only a handful of stalls here that have anything to do with farms; the rest are selling take away food of various sorts. However, the market has apparently “breathed new life into Lyric Square” if you believe the Hammersmith and Fulham press office and this can only be a good thing in an area characterised by ghastly pubs and awful traffic congestion both on the roads and on the pavements.

Further down the above-linked article is a quotation from Hammersmith Town Centre Manager, who said. “You only have to pass through Lyric Square on a Thursday and see the heaving crowds and smell the delicious food products being cooked to know this idea is a hit.” Which gives me an opportunity to rant about a personal bugbear. It really, really irritates me when food is just referred to as a “product”. It gives me the impression that the person saying it doesn’t actually have any appreciation for, or understanding of food and is just issuing a general-purpose, impersonal statement. They might as well be referring to matchboxes or bicycles or hatstands. Grrr.