Slow Cooker Mushroom Risotto

• servings: 6 servings
• active time: 20 minutes
• total time: 5 hours 20 minutes

Ingredients

1 small punnet (350-400g) chestnut mushrooms (quartered)

1 onion (thinly sliced)

2 tbsp garlic (chopped or minced)

125g salted butter

1 tbsp dried thyme

2 tsp dried parsley

400g arborio rice

1.5l chicken or vegetable stock

3/4 cup Italian hard cheese

Small cup peas

2 sticks celery

salt and pepper (to taste)

1 small bunch chives

Directions

First, turn your slow cooker onto HIGH and add the butter to the dish to give it a head start on softening while you prep the remaining ingredients. We will prep and add ingredients as we go along.

Slice and add the shallots, which you can also fry off a little before adding. Then add to the mushrooms.

Wipe down, de-stem, and chop your mushrooms and celery, adding them to the pan as you go. You can also fry off 1/3 the garlic and the mushrooms with the onions for a richer flavour.

Add the herbs and salt and pepper to taste. Pour the stock over everything. Add anything not fried off directly into the pot.

Give everything a good mix through, ensuring that the butter (which should have softened a little by now) and herbs are well distributed through the pan.

Cook the mushrooms onions and celery for 3-4 HOURS on high. They should have reduced in size and created a buttery, juicy sauce.

Add the arborio rice and vegetable stock, then cover and cook for 45 minutes on high before checking in.

Give it a big stir, and try some of the rice to assess whether it's cooked through. You want the rice to be soft but a little al dente. If it's not there yet, add 125-250ml water and keep cooking and check in regularly. There should still be a bit of liquid in the pan too, but if feels like it's drying out, add more water.

Your final cook time will depend on your slow cooker model and how hot the pan was when you started cooking the rice. If you add the stock boiling it will be quicker than if you poured stock from a carton in the fridge (because the whole pan will need to get up to the right heat level again).

Once the rice is cooked, give it a big stir through and add the cheese and chives. Allow it to sit uncovered (on "keep warm") for 5-10 minutes to warm through. If the sauce seems overly runny, stir through a couple of times and keep the lid off. It will soon thicken.

Serve immediately, with additional chives for topping if desired.

Nutrition

• Calories: 501 kcal
• Total Fat: 26 g
• Saturated Fat: 16 g
• Unsaturated Fat: 8 g
• Trans Fat: 1 g
• Cholesterol: 72 mg
• Sodium: 341 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 51 g
• Dietary Fiber: 3 g
• Total Sugars: 5 g
• Protein: 13 g