Set aside the sous vide

I wonder how you'd take it if I spat out a column from about two years ago, only it was slightly smaller, say four-fifths the size. You'd have the convenience of reading it in a much more efficient and timely manner but otherwise it would be exactly the same. How would that go down?

Well, that's sort of what Apple expects us to swallow with its new mini-iPad, which is a bit smaller but technologically the same as the iPad 2 from about a year and a half ago.

I'll give you a moment to go to your filing system and bring up what exactly we were discussing in late November 2010 in our oft-one-sided conversation. It's OK, I have time … . .

Asparagus, that's right. And you might recall something about my mate and his penchant for picking the spears on the full moon, starkers. Clearly, I can't just rehash the recipe I used then for asparagus with blood orange hollandaise, poached duck egg and crispy pork.

But if I was cooking that dish now, in 2012, I would cook the egg whole at 42.5C with my well-used sous-vide circulator that mostly just churns away all day and all I have to do is drop in various bags of protein to cook.

I'm always on the lookout for different things to cook in a plastic bag, and with the idea of making an asparagus risotto this year, I turn to the web to check out the sous-vide bloggers on my son's iPad 2.

On the exotically named Stefan's Gourmet blog, you and his 143 followers can become fully immersed in sous-vide action. But after reading about his laborious half cooking of stuff, his filling bags and experiments with various temperatures and times, I start to think that you really can overuse these techniques and overthink a recipe. I get it that if you cook, say, a short rib for three days at 56C it's going to be pretty tender for all its long, slow cooking. But when he suggests you begin asparagus risotto in a pan, then transfer the rice to one bag, and use a separate bag for the asparagus, with varying temperatures in the mix, well, I think you have way too much time on your hands.

So I've scratched risotto off my things to cook submerged in water and have gone back to the old school.

Risotto is a great dish for capturing seasonal flavours, no matter what you have growing. Flavouring a stock and cooking what you have with rice really brings out the flavour. Asparagus is high on the list of vegetables that work well. I always like to bring out the flavour of vegetables by cooking them in pork fat. It turns out I have ample amounts this spring, so I'm using some homemade pancetta, the perfect platform to build a beautiful risotto. You could leave it out, your call - cough, wimp - the dish no doubt will be healthier, but just remember that sometimes you have to fly high to get perspective.

White versus green will be the next question. I have to say I never really find white asparagus very exciting. It has a nice texture when cooked but doesn't carry the flavour intensity, or that pyrazine, green herbal, cat's pee character that makes for a punchy dish. But if you don't want this green flavour, fear not, just peel the asparagus spears, which will tone down the 2-ethenyl-3-ethyl-5-methylpyrazin, which is only enhanced when oxidised and sort of explains why they smell much stronger when cooked and after being passed through your kidneys.

That said, I love 'em, but only the fatter ones and will probably head to Costco again because theirs are pretty good (only you need a hay loader to get them home).

Risotto of asparagus, pancetta and wild mushrooms

50g dried mushrooms, soaked in water for 4 hours (optional)

3 bunches fat asparagus (white or green)

4 cups chicken stock

80g butter

extra virgin olive oil

100g pancetta, diced

4-5 eschalots, peeled and diced fine

1 clove garlic

2 cups vialone nano or carnaroli rice (Acquerello brand is the best)

½ cup dry white wine, warmed in a microwave for 30 seconds

chopped parsley

1 tomato, diced

50g parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

Drain and chop the mushrooms, saving the soaking liquid. Break the end off each asparagus spear. Bring one cup of stock to the boil, whisk in half the butter and cook the asparagus in this for a minute or two. Remove and blanch in ice water. Cut the asparagus tips off in one piece and roughly chop the rest. Add this stock back to the rest of the stock and bring to a simmer.

Heat a little oil in a thick-based frypan, and over a low heat saute the pancetta just enough to firm it up and release some fat, then remove and reserve. Add the eschalots, mushroom and garlic to the pan and cook for a few minutes. Add the rice. Lower the heat and cook the rice for about five minutes until it just starts to colour.

Deglaze the pan with the wine and add ¾ of the stock. Lower the heat again so it cooks at a bare simmer for 10-15 minutes - don't stir; just shake the pan gently occasionally.

If you want to serve the dish later, you can stop at this point. Spread the rice over a large surface, like a roasting pan, so it cools down rapidly.

To finish, add the rest of the stock, along with the pancetta and chopped asparagus, and stir gently until it starts to be incorporated. Add the asparagus tips, parsley and tomato. Make sure it stays quite loose, it should still be quite sloppy.

Heat up the rest of the butter, cook until it just starts to brown, then add it and the cheese to finish. Test for seasoning.