Slow-Cooker Chicken Barley Risotto with Thyme

Another lunch date with my aunt pushed me to make some soul food. That means something creamy that fills you up from the inside out. Basically that means risotto. Risotto is one of those things I rarely have because I don't usually order it at restaurants and I rarely make it at home. At restaurants it's either started with butter or pre-finished with cheese, and if I'm at a place where neither of these is the case that usually means the restaurant is good enough that there's something else interesting on the menu to try AND I'm getting ripped off since risotto's generally dirt cheap to make since usually the only thing in it that costs anything at all is the cheese, which I'm not eating. Sometimes there's truffle oil or lobster involved, but not enough to make the dish worthwhile. I mean, I've had good risotto before. The other problem is that it rarely fills me up. I can eat way too much of it, so I'm rarely satisfied. At home, it usually requires a ton of stirring and I prefer to use a home-made broth (the other problem with sub-par restaurant risottos), so there's a fair bit of effort that goes into my not ending up full.

But I made it. Mostly because I have a slow-cooker and barley risotto works great in a slow-cooker, so take the effort out and it's almost worthwhile. With risotto the trick is to keep the rice grains al dente -  chewy without being mushy and over-cooked. The slow-cooker is an al dente genius. There's a 1 1/2 hour window of time where those barley grains are lovely.

All you do is sauté a bunch of onions or leeks (and garlic if you wish, and I do) in some olive oil (or butter if you wish, and I don't; butter is more Northern Italian, olive oil more southern, and lactose-intolerance doesn't care about my love of Milan). Make sure the onions soften thoroughly, because if they don't you'll end up chewing them, which makes the risotto very un-appetizing. Now you can add firmer vegetables such as carrots if you wish. Sauté 5 more minutes. Then add 2 cups of rinsed pearl barley, a teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper (though I would use Sezchuan peppercorns for special occasions, just for fun). Stir for one minute on medium heat then add 3 cups of broth, a few sprigs of fresh thyme or a bunch of dried (but fresh is a million times better for infusing the broth) and one 28 oz can of tomatoes with its juice (I used my home-canned organic farmer's market tomatoes and their juice...the dish tasted like summer...mmm...). Coarsely chop the tomatoes beforehand if they're not already diced. You can also break them up in the skillet if you don't care about it being all perfectly chopped and beautiful.

Put the whole thing in a slowcooker for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high and voila! Heaven.

About 10 minutes before serving add some kind of protein if you wish. I had leftover roasted chicken which was perfect. Nordic shrimp or maybe crab or lobster (though they make this much more labour-intensive) would also work. Red meat you could get away with, but in that case they should be served separately: Risotto alone should be a first course (primo, in Italian) and the meat should be the second (secondo). Tradition and all.

Speaking of (massacring) tradition, the great thing about this recipe is you're not stirring it for 25 minutes and adding more and more broth slowly, a half cup at a time. You also don't end up with an over-salted risotto from adding more and more stock that boils off but leaves behind its sodium content. And if it burns it's the fault of your slow-cooker for not having a proper "keep warm" setting. If you get to it 30 minutes later than planned everything should be just fine. Coming home to cooking risotto also makes you feel like the smartest person alive. Give yourself a pat on the back before digging in.

If this is too bland for you, boil some balsamic vinegar down in a small saucepan until it reduces by half. Mmm...balsamic reduction. Why would I ever buy this at a restaurant when it's so easy?