Pressure Cooker Risotto Bolognese

Creamy risotto cooked in a flavorful bolognese sauce is a hearty meal that’s quick and easy to make in the pressure cooker. It’s comfort food at it’s best.

Updated July 14, 2015 with some new pictures and an updated recipe that takes advantage of the browning setting on the pressure cooker.

This is a recipe originally posted on Barbara Bakes. I adapted Nigella’s recipe to a pressure cooker recipe. Making risotto in a pressure cooker is quicker and easier – the rice is very tender and creamy without all the stirring.

I made other changes to the recipe as well. I didn’t puree the vegetables and I added sausage to spice it up a bit. I used a chicken sausage that my local grocer, Harmons, makes that I love, but pork sausage would work well too. Be sure and brown the sausage well before adding it to the rest of the ingredients in the pot.

If you’ve never made risotto in the pressure cooker, you’re in for a treat. It really is rich and creamy without using any cream, and without all the stirring you need to do when making it the traditional way.

Pressure Cooker Risotto Bolognese

Yield: 8 Servings

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. sausage, cooked and crumbled
• 6 slices of bacon, diced
• 1 onion, peeled and diced
• 1 carrot, peeled and diced
• 1 stick celery, diced
• 1 small clove of garlic, minced
• 2 cups risotto rice (Arborio)
• 1/2 cup marsala
• 5 cups beef broth, divided
• 1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan plus extra to serve
• handful of fresh parsley, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Select browning and brown sausage in the pressure cooking pot. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels.

Add bacon to pressure cooking pot and cook until crisp. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic, and saute until tender, about 3 minutes.

Stir in rice and cook, stirring frequently, until rice becomes opaque, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Add the marsala and cook 2 minutes. Add 4 cups beef broth, tomatoes, tomato paste, milk,bay leaves, and cooked sausage. Cover and lock lid in place. Select High Pressure and 6 minutes cook time. After 6 minutes, turn off and use a quick pressure release.

Select Simmer and stir in remaining 1 cup of beef broth. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally for 1 to 2 minutes until most of the broth is absorbed and the rice is creamy.

Stir in Parmesan and parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with an extra sprinkling of Parmesan.

Parmesan Bowl Directions

This is one of the most delicious Daring Cooks challenges I’ve made in a long time. The flavorful, creamy risotto along with the fried Parmesan was absolutely decadent. I stumbled on this Nigella recipe on Claire K. Creations and immediately wanted to try it. I’d decided to create Parmesan bowls for my edible container and knew this would be a perfect filling for a crispy Parmesan bowl.

I may have been extra hungry when making this meal, because every step along the way I kept thinking everything look so gorgeous and tasty and I took a million pictures.

These are the original photos from the post on Barbara Bakes. This time when I made it, I didn’t make the Parmesan bowls. They are a delicious addition though, so if you’d like to make them, the Crispy Parmesan Bowls recipe is on the Food Network.