Another mushroom recipe… not so sexy to look at or photograph (especially when cooked!), but oh… *swoon*! I am a diehard mushroom fan. Snob even. Since first collecting wild forest mushrooms at my parents’ place in southern Gippsland a few years ago, the mushroom benchmark has been raised aloft. To the almost complete exclusion now of common white button or cup mushrooms. My favourite would have to be swiss browns for their deep earthy flavours. Actually, a confession; I’m not overly familiar with other varieties like oyster or enoki because they’re usually only available here in plastic. And I can’t bring myself to accept fresh food thus wrapped – what’s the point? Anyway. Soapbox down.
Swiss browns (and their larger brothers, the portobellos, which are just swiss browns left longer to grow) are starting to reappear at the farmers market. I’d bought a big brown bag of pearled barley a few weeks back, with the idea of a risotto kicking around. Inspiration from Heidi Swanson’s earthy take on risotto – read about her conversion to using barley for risottos. Barley is a whole grain and is leaps and bounds more nutritious than white rice, which has had the bran and germ removed, so is not a ‘whole’ grain. Pearled barley is polished to remove some of the outer bran – so it’s not as wholesome as whole barley, but has a reduced cooking time and is much more nutritious than refined grains (like arborio, carnaroli and vialone nano, the traditional rice varieties used in risotto). And it has a natural wholesome taste and bitey texture. Hooked! Has anyone made risotto with other whole grains?
So, big flat portobellos + barley = an earthy, fulsome risotto, streaked with melted feta and dusted with tiny shavings of parmesan. This was even better at work for lunch two days later. Mmm winter food!
Oh, before the recipe, I just wanted to thank everyone who has commented or given feedback – I get the warm fuzzies knowing that some of you are recreating some of these recipes! It’s also great to be stopped in the midst of a busy workday with lovely comments!
Pearled barley has a cooking time of about 40 minutes. Cook it the same way you would risotto rice. I sauteed the mushrooms separately so they retained their form (and the barley its colour), but you could add all or half the mushrooms in at the start with the onion. I also threw half a leftover red onion in with the mushrooms (you might notice the purple flecks in the photo!). You could also omit the wine – use more stock if needed. Vegans can omit the cheeses.
1 large cup pearled barley
1 brown onion, chopped
1 leek, finely chopped
1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
2 extra large portobello mushrooms or 8-10 small swiss brown mushrooms, finely sliced
few sprigs each of fresh thyme and flat leaf parsley
3-4 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup good white wine
good splash of extra virgin olive oil
small handful toasted pine nuts
sea salt and fresh pepper
small block feta and fresh shaved parmesan to serve
Bring stock to simmer. In a separate pot, saute onion and garlic in olive oil over low heat for a few minutes until translucent. Add barley and a good splash of stock (enough to cover) and bring to a slow simmer. Stir, adding more stock as required, for 40 minutes or until barley is cooked. Just before the barley comes off the heat, crumble in half the feta and stir through.
Meanwhile, heat more oil in a pan over medium heat and saute mushrooms for about 8 minutes, adding wine for the last three minutes of cooking. Season with sea salt and pepper and stir through thyme and parsley.
Spoon barley into bowls and serve the mushrooms over the top. Crumble the remaining feta over bowls and top with shaved parmesan and pine nuts.
Serves 2-3.
looks delicious, i just got my hands in some barley and i’m definitely making this during the weekend.
btw, lovely awesome blog
What an excellent and healthy dish… my kind of food!!
Great recipe. Portobello mushrooms are never boring and they go beautifully in risottos!
Magda
Adriana, Eleni and Magda – thanks for stopping by and for your lovely comments. S