Pressure Cooked Risotto With Mushrooms

Set pressure cooker to sauté. Once pre-heated, add oil (2 Tbsp.) and onion (finely chopped), then cook until the onion becomes translucent.

Meanwhile, in a separate skillet, heat olive oil (1 Tbsp.) or butter over medium-high heat. Add sliced mushrooms and stir, coating them in oil. Carry on with mixing and cooking the risotto, while occasionally stirring the mushrooms, until they are golden brown and a little crisped.

Add the rice (2 cups) to the pressure cooker and lightly toast it. The edges of the rice grains will appear translucent while their cores remain opaque. Add white wine (¼ cup) and stir until wine has evaporated, un-sticking any grains from the bottom of the cooker.\

Add broth (1L), mix and seal the pressure cooker. Cook at high pressure for 5 to 6 minutes. Release the pressure and completely turn off the pressure cooker. The risotto should appear just slightly too wet.

Stir the rice so it soaks up the extra liquid until it reaches the right consistency. If you still have too much liquid, turn the heat back on to medium and continue stirring. To finish, serve risotto in bowls and top with finely grated Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste, and fried mushrooms.

There comes a time most days, when one of us will ask the other “What do you want to do for dinner?”. It’s a game we play, where the winner is the first one to ask, and the loser has to choose what we’re making for dinner. The decision usually comes down to “pasta?” or “rice?” and then we go from there.

On the occasion of making this particular risotto, we couldn’t decide on rice vs. pasta, so we chose risotto, because it’s kind of like a combination of the two. It’s technically rice, but you flavour it more similarly to how you’d flavour pasta. Plus, it's the perfect substrate for loads of Parmesan cheese.

Don’t be fooled by the mushrooms, it’s not healthy. But who doesn’t like something warm and easy to cook (and eat), topped with something fried, on a cold and rainy day?