I am going to make risotto salto with the left over risotto tonight. You just form little cakes the shape of small hockey pucks from what ever is left on the plate, dust them with a tiny bit of flour and then saute them in olive oil. Asparagus risotto can be given a whole new life with an edge of good ricotta salata and a spicy little salad of fennel, mint, chive and arugula.
If you want some red on the table, make a strawberry pie from my Grandma Evelyn. You can totally cheat and buy a crust, but if you make a short bread crust, you don’t even have to roll the thing out. Just mix 1 stick of cold butter cut into tiny cubes into 1 cup of flour and 1/4 cup of sugar, and a pinch of salt, with your fingertips, until you don’t see anymore flour. Uneven lumps are what you are looking for. Forget about everything has to be pea sized. Press that into a pie plate and bake at 400 degrees until it is going a bit golden. Cool completely. Cover it with fresh strawberries, whole or halved (take the stems off). Mash a cup of strawberries. Thicken with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch that you have thinned out with a tablespoon of the strawberry juice that seeps out from the berries before adding the cornstarch to the bowl. Add 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of sugar. Cook over a low to medium heat until the liquid is clear. Pour over the strawberries on the crust and allow to set. Cover with freshly whipped cream.