It began with a little poll I posted on Facebook and Twitter:
Risotto in a slow cooker: blasphemy or brilliance?
On Twitter, 47% said it was blasphemy, 53% felt it was brilliance. The results on Facebook were almost diametrically opposite, with the majority considering it sheer blasphemy and extolling the stirring (and wine-sipping) process as an integral part of the whole experience. For the most part, though, it was a pretty even split. The only thing left to do was to try it for myself. I’ve only made risotto in the traditional manner a couple of times, and it was an exhausting, sweaty, and rather stressful experience, wine-sipping be damned. My arm was tired, my outfit was ruined, and it still wasn’t all that. If even a slight approximation could be achieved in a slow cooker, I’d consider it a success.
The initial prep work is similar. In a large frying pan, I sautéed two chopped shallots and a chopped bulb of fennel in ¼ cup oil. (The recipe called for basil oil, but all we had on hand was a wild mushroom and sage oil, so I used that and it worked wonderfully.) After they were soft and translucent, I veered slightly from the listed process and added 1 ½ cups of Arborio rice directly to this, coating the rice and listening for the tell-tale crackle (if you need your aural fix of rice pops, get it now). After the rice was heated and coated with the oil, I added about ¼ cup dry white wine (a Pinot Grigio) and let the rice take some of that in. I poured the whole mixture into the slow cooker and added two tablespoons of butter, stirring it around and coating the rice again. To this I added 4 cups of chicken broth (heated to boiling in the microwave) and another ¼ cup of wine. Then I set it on High for two hours. [Don’t stop reading at this point to run off and make it work – there’s a major caveat coming up.]
Since stirring was of paramount importance in the traditional method of preparation, I did stir the mixture about once every twenty minutes, and this turned out to be a blessing. A little over an hour after it had begun cooking, I went in for another stir and found the rice had soaked up the majority of the liquid and was dangerously close to being done. I sampled it and it was almost perfect – still firm and intact, but not the least bit chalky or overly chewy. I’d caught it just in time. I turned the slow cooker off just as it was going to the dry side. I added a few more tablespoons of the warm stock and wine mixture and stirred it in, along with some freshly-grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.
It held until company arrived half-an-hour later, at which point we quickly served it up as an appetizer because it simply wouldn’t wait. That tricky timing issue is one reason I don’t do risotto for guests, but the ease of this slow cooker method may mean it’s on our personal dining schedule a bit more often.
