If you love a rich and comforting meal, risotto is for you! The first time I tried risotto I was at a wine tasting that served a five course meal with complementary wine pairings. I was amazed at how the simple ingredients of rice, and broth could be transformed into such a wonderful hearty meal.
I began trying risotto the traditional method which requires stirring continuously to break down the rice to give the creamy end result. I found a risotto recipe originally on Food and Wine.com and was skeptical.
I made some changes to the recipe such as adding Portabella mushrooms, using cooking sherry, ground sausage and a whole package of baby spinach.
Once I gave the crock pot version a try, I have never attempted to make risotto any other way. Give it a try and you'll see why.
Slow Cooker, Mushroom and Sausage Risotto
4-Cups Chicken Broth
1-lb. ground Italian Sausage
1- Small Vidalia Onion, or Yellow Onion, finely chopped
3-4 Tablespoons (1/4 cup of Cooking Sherry)
1-Medium Zucchini, grated
1-8oz. package of Baby Portabella Mushrooms, finely chopped
5-Cups baby spinach (5 ounces) *I buy a small package and use it all!
3-Tablespoons of Butter
Dried Sage- to taste
Olive Oil
Shredded Parmesan cheese for topping
White Truffle Oil for drizzling
Method:
1. Prepare the crock pot by greasing with a Tablespoon of olive oil. I put a small amount on the bottom of the crock pot, and then take a paper towel and coat the rest of the bottom and sides. You can also use a crock pot liner for easy clean up.
2. Prepare Vegetables- I prefer a fine texture, so all of the veggies go in the food processor. The onion and mushrooms are finely chopped. The zucchini is grated. Add Zucchini and Mushrooms to crock pot.
Turn a 6-7 quart crock pot and turn on high. In a sauce pan, prepare the broth and heat to a simmer. In a separate skillet, brown the sausage and saute onions until soft and translucent and transfer to the crock pot.
3. In the same skillet, add the butter and rice. Stir the rice scraping up any browned bits of sausage drippings for about 4 to 5 minutes on medium high heat. The Aborio will look semi translucent and often will have a small white dot in the center when it is ready. Transfer the rice to the slow cooker.
4. Add the hot broth, and zucchini to the crock pot. Cook for approximately 1 hour. I often start the crock pot at 1 hour approximately (depending on your individual crock pot). I generally cook mine at 1 hour and 15 minutes.
5. After an hour, most of the liquid will be absorbed. I generally like to check it at an hour and stir the risotto a few times and toss in the spinach. The steam will cook the spinach down and finish off cooking.
6. Top with grated Parmesan and drizzle with white Truffle Oil.
Enjoy!