The barley risotto with mushrooms is cooked like a risotto. It is a tasty, nutritious vegetarian main course, suitable for both lunch and dinner. Barley is a cereal with many health benefits, which can be enriched, personalized, and cooked as we like. Soups can be prepared, to be enjoyed hot or cold, fragrant, inviting and flavorful; or a barley risotto like in this case. It can be considered a very simple single dish, with very little added fat. The barley risotto with mushrooms can be accompanied, if desired, by garlic and chili croutons.
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
Ingredients
- 10.5 oz pearl barley
- water (5.9 cups)
- to taste fine salt
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- 1.1 lbs mushrooms
- 1 carrot
- 1 stalk celery
- 1/2 onion
- 2 tbsps dry white wine
- to taste chopped parsley
- 1 clove garlic
Preparation
Clean the carrot, onion, and celery and make a vegetable broth with 5.9 cups of water. When the broth reaches a boil, let it cook for another 10 minutes and turn off.
While the broth is cooking, clean the mushrooms and slice them not too thinly. Place them in a non-stick pan, cover, and over high heat, let them lose some of their water without adding water or fat.
After this step, sauté a garlic clove in a large pan over medium heat with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
When the garlic is well browned, add the mushrooms, stir, and let them brown for about a minute. Then, remove the garlic, add the barley, mix and let it flavor for a minute, then deglaze with wine and let the alcohol evaporate.
Only now can we add all the broth (without the vegetables) which must be more than boiling.
Mix, cover, and let cook on low heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the broth is completely absorbed and the barley is well cooked.
At this point, it is not necessary to cream with butter like in a traditional risotto, because our barley risotto will already be creamy, but we can still use some creamy cheese or a knob of butter, if desired.
Let the barley risotto with mushrooms rest for a few minutes before serving it with a sprinkle of fresh chopped parsley.
