We may be geeks, but that doesn’t mean we don’t know how to create great things in the kitchen. Some of the best dishes – even snacks! – can be made quickly and easily as long as you know what you’re doing. Let’s get cooking!

Now that the holidays have come and gone, the Ferrari household has a new obsession, and it’s already made cooking so much easier. This whole Instant Pot thing is amazing and after just a couple of uses since it appeared under the tree for Christmas, I am in love.

The Instant Pot, released in 2012, is a device that combines pressure cooker, slow cooker, warmer, steamer and more into one convenient device, and it gets food made in much less time than the normal crock pot.

Just the other day, my wife used it to make a soup with potatoes, sweet potatoes, kielbasa and kale – and it was oh so good. Today, it was time for me to try out the instant pot. My first foray into this wonderful new world was a butternut squash risotto.

Any good risotto takes about an hour to get done, maybe more with prep time depending on the ingredients you’re using. But with an Instant Pot, that time was cut in half. From sautéing onions to getting the rice to absorb the water and broth, everything was done in simple steps and without the constant need to oversee the process.

Simply amazing.

After just about half an hour, the risotto was creamy, delicious and ready to be scooped out into a bowl. This thing is a must have for anyone who wants some great meals done quickly.