I love risotto– I love the creaminess, how it pairs with many foods, how it smells after you spend the hour massaging it–but I’m not so fond of how badly I need a massage afterwards. So I was interested when I saw several postings on Pinterest for slow cooker risottos. Unfortunately when I looked at the recipes, I wasn’t impressed by various calls for onion flakes, but no celery. Some even left out the wine. I decided to try my own version.
When I first started making risotto (pre-slow cooker), I switched the onion for shallots to lose the sharpness of the onion. I am not a fan of oaked (barrel fermented) Chardonnays (the aftertaste is too much), but someone had given me a bottle and not being one to waste wine, I used that in the recipe. Happily, the oaked Chardonnay added a toasted nuttiness to the flavor.

What you’ll need:
2 pints chicken stock (I use organic and low sodium when I can find it)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 shallot
1 head of celery (This is optional, but many professional chefs include celery in their recipes and I love the freshness and texture. I cut so much off it ends up being about 1/2 head)
2 cloves garlic (if you don’t have a garlic press, you can use the equivalent in minced garlic from the store.)
1 2/3 cups arborio rice
2 glasses Chardonnay, oaked
6 tablespoons butter
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Prep time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 2 hours on high, 4 hours on low

To Prepare
-Chop the celery and shallot. I like to use my mini chopper for this.
-Press the garlic.
-Begin heating your chicken stock in a large pot.
-Heat the olive oil and half of the butter in a skillet. Add the celery, garlic, and shallot and slowly cook on low until the vegetables are soft.
-Increase the heat by a notch. Add the rice to the vegetables, and continually turn the rice over until it is slightly translucent.
-Add the Chardonnay and stir until the liquid is absorbed.
-Add the chicken stock and the rice mixture to your slow cooker and mix well.
-Cook on high for 2 hours (or low for 4). Halfway through the cooking, stir the rice. (Yes, I’m telling you to break the cardinal rule of not opening the slow cooker.)
-Add the rest of the butter and the Parmesan cheese. Stir until well blended.

Serve with the remainder of the wine. It also pairs well with steak cubes.