Pressure cookers are a great way to make incredible risotto in a fraction of the time of the traditional method. This recipe describes a base method to make a plain risotto in your pressure cooker, and can be used as the foundation for any number of delicious risottos. The key is the 1:2 ratio of arborio rice to liquid, and a 6 minute, high pressure cook. In this recipe, I use an Instant Pot electric pressure cooker, but you can use a different pressure cooker.
- Turn your pressure cooker to "sauté," and add fat to the cooker.
- Once fat comes to temperature, add the onions, salt, and pepper, and cook until translucent.
- Add your rice and stir to coat the rice with the fat.
- Add your liquid and seal your pressure cooker, setting for 6 minutes on high pressure.
- Once cook is complete, quick release your pressure cooker, stir, and serve!
Interesting variations on the base include:
- Mushroom risotto – use three cups of mushroom broth and one cup of dry white wine for your liquid. Add minced garlic to the onions during the sauté, and add dried mushrooms before you seal the pressure cooker. Finish with white truffle oil and tons of grated parmesan cheese.
- Carbonara risotto – this is what you see in the above photo that I recently prepared. Start the sauté with diced pancetta or thick cut bacon sliced into lardons, until the meat is nicely browned and the fat has rendered. Use three cups of chicken broth and one cup of white wine for your liquid and add lots of pamesan to the pot before the seal. Finish with more parmesan and lots of black pepper. I like to stir in frozen english peas at the end and serve with an egg that has been cooked sous-vide for one hour at 145°F.
- Add a dollop of mascarpone cheese at the end for an extra creamy risotto.
- Try using salted, diced ham and english peas, with ham stock as the liquid.
The possibilities are endless!
Comments (17)
I love risotto but don't want to get a pressure cooker 😜j
I've been meaning to try risotto in my Instant Pot! Thanks for the tip!
That sounds too easy! Can’t wait to try it.
I was jumping into this thread to say risotto.
Okay, grabbed that and the thai curry (how do you like that one?) from your site. Do you have a recipe for tonight's carnitas?
The curry is good. Biggest trick with it is not overcooking the veg. When I do it now, I usually put the veg in after the cook and let it simmer for a bit until they’re tender. I have no recipe for the carnitas. It was all instinct, but I can definitely write it down eventually!
Thank you!
Also: stocks and bone broths
So, so much this. We frequently will get a roti chicken from the grocery store on a busy weeknight when we don’t have time to make dinner. Toss the carcass and a bunch of veg into the instant pot for a few hours? The best broth/stock ever!
What do you usually do to store it? Liz makes stock regularly just simmering it, but she boils it down to a demi and freezes it in that more compact form to save space.
Five or six years ago, we invested in a large deep freezer. We keep it outside under a covered area, and it’s amazing. We put our stock in mason jars, and freeze it. We also put a ton of proteins in there, vacuum sealed, seasoned, and ready to go in the sous vide!
Mason jars, 3/4 full. Goes into the basement freezer.
Hmm. You have it outside in LA and it doesn't get super gross and trashed? I'm impressed. The protein idea is an interesting thought too. We'll freeze post-cooked meals (pasta sauce, soups...) But typically leave protein in unprepared form until we decide what to do with it.
...tell me more about this basement. Do you know what the import laws on them are in California?
Personally, I have a bit of it all. Preface frozen foods. Some unprepared protein curtesy of my butcher csa, stocks, and the collections of things that will go into stocks (carcasses; carrot and onion extra bits)
It’s the kind of thing you want if tornadoes find your neighborhood appealing.
Yeah it’s definitely not pristine, but it holds up fine. I wipe it down every few weeks with some paper towels and windex ;)