Risotto in a slow cooker? Prepare to faint.

Risotto is a simple rice dish at its most basic, but its elaborate cooking procedure requires nano-second timing and perpetual stirring that can wear out even an Incredible Hulk-sized bicep before the rice is even half-cooked.

That may be why restaurants pride themselves on their ability to turn out perfect risotti, and also why Hell’s Kitchen contestants have more trouble cooking a risotto than with any other single dish. While the chefs manage  perfectly-done Beef Wellingtons by the dozens and torch creme brulees shoulder-to-shoulder in the world’s most chaotic kitchen, it’s the rice that brings the contestants to their knees.

I’ve frequently joked that the dumpster behind the Hell’s Kitchen restaurant is probably mostly loaded with trash bags bursting with risotto, as I’ve seen chef Gordon Ramsay dump out pan after pan of the contestants’ poorly cooked rice dishes.

Rice can be tricky in the slow cooker too, but with just a little hands-on work –considerably less than with a traditional risotto, but more than some slow cooker recipes– you can turn out perfectly-textured rice. Part of the trick is to use converted rice (quick-cooking rice), which may irritate purists who insist on Arborio for risotto, but they’ll already be popping a vein that you’re using a crock-pot anyway.

Placate the snobbish by calling it something else: steamed rice should chill them out, but it’s an awfully mundane name for a dish that’s proof that epicurean results can come out of the slow cooker. You could also consider this a sort of sublime tuna casserole, elevated to its highest form.

Whatever you call it, prepare for a creamy-textured rice dish that’s a slow cooker quickie with just an hour of cook time.

Slow Cooker Risotto with Fresh Tuna and Basil Recipe

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp melted butter
2-3 green onions, chopped
3 cups very hot vegetable stock
1 cup uncooked converted rice
1/2 cup white wine
Freshly ground black pepper
1 lb. fresh tuna, cubed
1/4 cup snipped fresh basil

Directions: Combine butter, onions, stock, rice, wine and pepper in the crock of your slow cooker and stir. Cover and cook on high for 45 minutes. Remove lid and stir in tuna, then cook for an additional 15 minutes, or until tuna is just cooked. Turn off the slow cooker and let sit for five minutes. Remove lid and stir in basil. Fluff with a fork and serve immediately. Serves two.

Tuna risotto makes a light supper-in-a-bowl for two, or you can serve it to four as a starter or side dish.

Perhaps someday you’ll be a contestant on Hell’s Kitchen. I can’t wait to see the string of curses Chef Ramsay unleashes when you produce your crock-pot. But the proof is in the pudding, or in this case, the risotto.