Giada De Laurentiis' Crucial Slow Cooker Step Before Throwing Ingredients In

We love the slow cooker. It can do everything from keeping your food warm for hours to making delicious butter chicken. Technically, you can just toss in your ingredients and forget about them, but if you want to go the extra mile, take a leaf from Giada De Laurentiis' beef and kabocha squash stew recipe, and saute your garlic, onions, and herbs before adding them to your slow cooker. 

Garlic and onions are the flavor backbone of countless dishes, but they need a little love before they can work their magic. If you've ever bitten into a raw onion or clove of garlic, you'll know that they pack a sharp and bitter punch. That's because both contain sulfur compounds, which are produced when their cell walls are damaged (this is also why cutting onions makes you cry). However, when sauteed, these pungent compounds are mellowed, allowing sweeter and more aromatic flavors to take over. Unfortunately, without that initial heat and fat, slow cooking raw garlic or onions essentially just braises them, softening their harsher flavors but producing a comparatively weaker profile.

One of the biggest mistakes when cooking with garlic is using high heat, as this will cause it to go full circle and back to being bitter and pungent. The same applies to fresh herbs. For the best results, saute your aromatics in layers: Start with your onions, as they take longer to cook, then finish with your garlic and herbs for extra aroma. Once they're in, it'll cook fast, and will only take about a minute to reach perfection — you'll know it's ready when it smells deliciously fragrant.

The decision to saute your garlic before adding it to your slow cooker is only a small part of the discussion, as many other factors can influence how garlic interacts with a dish. One of the most important is how you slice it. If you're looking for an intense, garlicky flavor, mince it finely. This produces more allicin (the sulfur compound responsible for its taste), as well as increasing the surface area to release more aroma and flavor. We suggest using a knife instead of a garlic press – and so does Ina Garten. If you want to activate the allicin without having small bits of garlic floating around your stew, crush the clove with the flat side of a knife instead. 

Instead of sauteing, another great way to deepen the flavor of your slow cooker stews is by roasting your onions and garlic beforehand. Just slice them in half, drench them in olive oil, and roast at a high-heat in your oven for up to an hour. Thanks to caramelization occurring, their flavor profile will be much sweeter than sauteing.

Whereas onions and garlic both benefit from sauteing or roasting, herbs only need a light touch. In fact, delicate herbs like parsley, cilantro, and basil can quickly be ruined by heat, so it's best to avoid sauteing them altogether. Hardy herbs like rosemary, thyme, and sage can handle high heat and do well when bloomed in oil. You'll be bringing out their natural oils and helping to empower their flavor — something you'll want if you are going to simmer in your slow cooker for hours.