Normally, I prefer to make my risotto the proper way, over slow heat in a heavy cast iron pan for an hour or two. But sometimes risotto needs to just happen quickly while other things get done, and for those times the Instant Pot makes a surprisingly good (if inauthentic) risotto.
Today was the kind of day when there wasn’t a lot of time to make lunch while I worked, so I pulled out an old recipe for risotto with bacon and peas and updated it for consistent quantities and to fit my small Instant Pot. Even with the calculations required to update the recipe, total time from opening the pantry to sitting down and eating was only about 30 minutes, half of which was hands-off waiting for the Instant Pot to cook.
All quantities can be doubled for the 6 quart Instant Pot, the cooking time should stay the same but be sure to try it before making this for something important.
Ingredients:
- 50g butter, divided
- 150g Arborio rice
- 14oz stock
- 40g peas
- 6 slices cooked bacon, diced
- 28g grated Parmesan cheese
Directions:
- Set the Instant Pot to Saute and add 30g butter
- Stir lightly until butter is melted, then press Cancel to turn off the IP
- Add Arborio rice and stir until coated well with melted butter
- Add stock and stir until rice is submerged
- Set to Pressure Cook on high 14 minutes
- When cooking is finished, quick release pressure
- Stir well so that rice and stock are fully mixed
- Add bacon, peas, Parmesan, 20g butter and stir well
I’m a mise en place style cook, so while the rice and stock were cooking in the Instant Pot, I collected, measured, and prepped the remaining ingredients:
(Note those quantities are half the published amount, as I only made a small test batch today)
Once the Instant Pot was done, I released the pressure and stirred the rice, then added the bacon, peas, parmesan, and remaining butter:
When everything was ready, I enjoyed a quick and simple lunch before heading back to work:
Sounds yummy!