Pressure cooker risotto is good risotto

A lemony asparagus and courgette risotto recipe

Have we ever talked about risotto here? I think only in passing and it is long overdue. Like the concept of pressure cooker pasta (a whole other post) I have found it to be a divisive thing. People are very attached to the traditional way of making risotto. So much is written about the meditative qualities of slowing stirring it into being. I take absolutely no issue with this, everyone should get their headspace and equilibrium wherever they can find it. Me? I spend less time making risotto and more time walking….

There are a lot of pressure cooker risotto converts out there. Words like “life changing” have been bandied about. This from people who find the traditional method either too time consuming and love that they can make it so quickly on a weekday night when they are more interested in sitting around a table than standing at the stove. Or they find it quite tricky - it is talked about in such terms of reverence they are scared of getting it wrong. This then becomes self fulfilling. It’s a bit like bechamel (possibility of lumps!), or making mayonnaise or hollandaise (the horror of splitting) - you don’t find it hard until you are told that you should. I think Nigella said something similar once.

I like the fact that the speed and ease of pressure cooker risotto allows us to eat it more often because it is a gift in terms of adaptability - just endless variety. And of course then there’s arancini too which can be made very well with a pressure cooker/air fryer combo. Of course I make more elaborate versions of risotto - today’s recipe verges on it - but I would still pressure cooker it. This is because I honestly think the texture is perfect and the flavour is often better. And in the middle of winter it is a pretty much perfect thermos flask meal for my children’s school lunch. I use whatever vegetables/bits of cooked meat/stock (water if no homemade) I have to hand and it is done from start to finish in less than 15 minutes. (Note, when I give the children risotto, the cheese goes separately in a little pot as parmesan in a thermos for several hours isn’t really what anyone wants).

The other thing to say is that those who are converted to this method really do love it. I include food writer Italians in this category. Strangely (or maybe not, as they tend to be a bit more prosaic about their meal prep than we do), many food loving Italians are happy to embrace it. But then, they generally accept pressure cookers as part and parcel of their kitchen kit - no snobbery attached - in a way that most Brits can’t quite bring themselves to do. Conversely, there are many Brits (and Americans too) who revere Italian food to a point bordering on lunacy who LOATHE the mere thought. I was once at an event when a dear friend of mine introduced me to an Italophile restaurateur friend of hers and mentioned pressure cooker risotto. He looked at me with such disdain, before uttering through tight lips, “You can’t make risotto in a pressure cooker.” And turned away, conversation over. I find it funny now. At the time I was mortified. But regardless of how he made me feel, I know he was wrong. Properly done, pressure cooker risotto is good risotto.

A word about the type of rice. It does make a difference to the timings and to the end result. Food writer/historian Annie Gray once mentioned to me that she only likes using carnaroli even though it takes slightly longer to cook - a whole extra minute! I am not that prescriptive. But she is right about the end result, it is creamier. I was doing a demo last year at Mrs Portly’s Kitchen and we made two - one with arborio and one with carnaroli and the latter won the taste (or more accurately, texture) test.

And before I get onto the recipe proper, a word about stock. I usually use chicken stock for all but my seafood risottos as I like the depth of flavour. When I was making this at the weekend I used a quick home made vegetable stock because I knew I was giving a couple of portions away to a vegetarian neighbour. I have yet to find a bought vegetable stock that I like in risotto.

So firstly here’s my very quick pressure cooker vegetable stock recipe. I wanted it to have a bit of oomph so added a vegetarian cheese rind and a bit of soy sauce. As always, add what you have. Pea pods add sweetness, so does squash, carrot, sweet potato trimmings. Fennel use with caution as it can overpower - maybe just the odd trimming or frond. And avoid anything starchy (although this is OK for a stock that is going to be used in a non brothy soup) and anything cruciferous which will go sulphurous in the time. You do not want a bitter, 1970s boarding house taint to your risotto.

Spring Vegetable Stock

Woody ends from the 2 bunches of asparagus

Leek trimmings

1/2 onion, roughly chopped, plus (clean) papery skin

1 stick celery, roughly chopped

A few garlic cloves (the tiny ones in the centre of the bulb are good for this) plus paper

1 bay leaf

A couple of tarragon sprigs

A few peppercorns

A cheese rind (if you aren’t bothered about being vegetarian, parmesan, otherwise vegetarian alternative)

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

Put everything in your pressure cooker and cover with water. Close the lid and bring up to high pressure. Adjust the heat to maintain the pressure, then cook for 5 minutes. Leave to drop pressure naturally and strain. Ideally for the timings below, you should let it cool to room temperature before using in the risotto. If using immediately, you will find that your pressure cooker will come up to pressure faster, and you will need to add another minute to your pressure cooking time.

Asparagus, Lemon and Courgette Risotto

This was inspired by Saturday’s farmers market. Good value, plastic packaging free asparagus from Perry Court, the first tiny courgettes with flowers appearing from Wild Country Organics and I couldn’t resist the chive flowers either.

If you don’t have homemade vegetable stock, or time/trimmings to make one, you can use a bought one, but in this instance I prefer to use water and pay more attention to seasoning, the herbs and the cheese. I find that some of the vegetable stock cubes have a bit of an aftertaste which is intensified when pressure cooked. This doesn’t always matter when there are other strong flavours to stand up to them, but it does matter when making risotto.

Ingredients:

2 bunches asparagus

2 tbsp olive oil

15g butter

1 large leek, finely diced

1 smallish courgette (or as I used, 4 tiny ones), sliced

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated

Leave from a large sprig of tarragon, finely chopped

Leaves from a large sprig of thyme, chopped if large

300g risotto rice

100ml white wine

750ml stock

zest of 1 lemon

To finish:

A little more stock (optional)

25g butter

25g parmesan (or vegetarian alternative), grated, plus extra for the table

Optional extras:

Courgette flowers, finely sliced

Chive flowers, broken up

Any herbs (lemon thyme, basil, tarragon are good)

First prepare the asparagus. Bend to find the snapping point to remove the woody tips. Use these for stock making - see the recipe above. Then finely slice most of the stems into rounds.

Next, cook the asparagus tips - you need to do this separately because they will overcook in the risotto. Alternatively, you can wrap them in a triple piece of foil and place on a trivet on top of the risotto to cook - this saves the bother of reheating so better if using the tips as garnish. But to cook separately, heat your pressure cooker, add olive oil and sear the asparagus slightly. Add a splash of water, bring up to high pressure and immediately fast release. For a slightly firmer texture don’t sear first, just heat a splash of water (100ml is plenty), and when it starts producing steam add the asparagus. Cook for zero minutes, fast release.

Remove the asparagus from your pressure cooker. If you have never cooked asparagus this way before, have a taste. You will be amazed at how buttery they are. I don’t know how this happens. How does pressure cooking bring out butteriness in ingredients that don’t contain butter? To be absolutely sure to preserve the colour, you can drop into an ice bath. I don’t bother as it means more re heating before you add to the risotto. Wipe out the pressure cooker and heat again.

Heat the remaining olive oil, then add the butter. When it has melted, add the leek and saute for 3-4 minutes until it looks translucent. Then add the finely sliced asparagus stems, courgettes and garlic. Cook for another minute, then stir in the herbs and rice. When it is glossy with butter, pour in the wine. Bring to the boil - you need most of it to boil off if you don’t want a risotto that tastes very winey.

Add all the stock and season with salt and pepper. Make sure the base of the cooker is deglazed, then close the lid and bring it up to high pressure. Adjust the heat so it is just high enough to maintain the pressure.

Now, timings.

Arborio rice generally takes 5 minutes and carnaroli usually takes 6. Start off with these timings, as these are the ones which work with the majority of pressure cookers which have a minimum of 90kPa. If your pressure cooker works at a lower pressure than this, you might want to add an extra minute. Talking stovetops this will probably apply to Fissler and ProCook models. But start with these timings first.

If you find that your risotto isn’t quite cooked with these timings, please do not put it back under pressure, but finish it off conventionally. The reason for this is that rice gives out a lot of starch as it cooks and that starch likes to sink and weld itself to the base of your cooker - you will then find that if you try to bring it back up to pressure again, it will not want to do so before it burns.

So if you are making pressure cooker risotto for the first time, just make a note or remember if you need more time so you can add an extra minute next time.

After the high pressure cooking time is up, remove from the heat and fast release. Then return to a low heat. You may want to loosen it with an splash of extra stock. I find I need to do this every few times I make it and I am not sure why. I think it is partly to do with the quality of the rice and partly due to the amount of liquid any additional vegetables give out - if they are particularly dry (or non existent), I might need a bit of extra liquid.

Beat in the lemon zest, butter and parmesan, then stir in courgette flowers if you have them. Roughly chop the reserved asparagus and stir in.

Divide the risotto between 4 shallow bowls. Garnish with more courgette and chive flowers or any herbs you might like to use - lemon thyme gives a good citrussy hit. Serve with more parmesan or similar grated over.

The past week in pressure cooking:

A pot of pinto beans for a mellow, coconutty soup and to refry for tacos

Tomato sauce - a vat of the buttery quick prep sort

Chicken stock

Sausage and potato casserole (also made for good leftover lunch)

A 1kg ham needed for work (which I foolishly forgot to say was for work and Adam demolished over a weekend so I have to buy another. Drat that boy). And the cooking liquor makes great stock.

Spaghetti - again, needed for work, and using it as an opportunity to refine timings when not using absorption method

Poutine Gravy!

Sauteed potatoes

Many, many greens

Roast carrots (always a favourite)

Swiss chard shakshuka

Mandarin jam (last lot of mandarins), see here for my recipe.

Thermos lunches:

It was a 4 day week last and Adam had cold food for 2 of them.

So the leftover sausage casserole and:

Noodles - the only meat I had to hand was chorizo and it actually worked really well with 5 Spice. Was surprised.

And today:

Bulgar wheat pilaf, made with vegetables and harissa. Today I discovered that a shop bought preserved lemon can be a bit soapy when pressure cooked. I much prefer my quick version.

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