The Barley-Mushroom Pseudo Risotto
Written by Kate Petersen on July 15, 2008 – 6:48 pm -This is a pseudo risotto for two reasons: one, I didn’t stand over it for an hour adding liquid by the quarter-cup and stirring stirring stirring; and two, it doesn’t have any rice in it.
What it does have is deep satisfying flavor. It was easy to make and for me, at least, it was a pantry meal. Thanks to the co-op on Tuesday, I had a lovely little bag of cremini mushrooms. I had barley. (I always have barley.) I had fresh spinach and several kinds of cheese and butter and garlic.
What more did I need? I had lunch.
Here’s how.
Into a medium-size saucepan, put:
3 cups water or stock
1 cup barley
Bring to a boil, turn down the heat, and simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring once or twice.
After the barley has been cooking about 25-30 minutes, wash and slice the mushrooms, stems included. Get out your good ScanPan sauté pan and heat a little butter in it, maybe a tablespoon or so. Smash up a clove of garlic and stir that in the melted butter for a minute or two, then add the mushrooms and sauté until the shrooms are soft and covered in all that lovely garlic butter. Add the fresh spinach by handfuls (how much? I added probably 5 or 6 ounces; it would depend on how much you like spinach, I suppose) and stir each handful until it’s wilted before adding the next.
By now your barley should be done. Remove it from the heat. Throw in a generous handful (maybe half a cup) of grated Parmesan cheese. Add a little sploosh of milk if it needs liquid, then stir in the garlicky mushrooms and spinach.
Put it on a plate. A big one. Top with more cheese if the spirit moves you, and chow down.
Mangia!
Posted in Food, Recipes |
6 Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
I love this idea of a sploosh of milk. Does that make it almost like a cream of ____?
It sounds great. I’ve always had a barley phobia, but I’ve also always wanted to get over it. This could be a recipe to help me overcome it.
No, it’s not really creamy… the barley cooks rather dry and it needs just a touch of something to turn the grated cheese into a sauce. I didn’t want it very liquid, just liquid enough to thinly coat the grains with cheesy garlicky goodness.
You could use a sploosh of stock or water or probably even wine, if you had any, though that might fight with the other flavors.
It was very simple peasanty food except for the cheese. (Goat cheese would work exceptionally well here too, now that I think of it, and you wouldn’t need any milk.)
Aha! My absence of barley experience shines through …
This sounds great. Even like a pizza topping? Sounded like it to me. Ever thought of cracking an egg over all?
I’m not sure how well the barley would work as a pizza topping — interesting idea! And the egg too. I was actually craving spaghetti alla carbonara today and with great willpower resisted the urge to make it.
Just had an interesting multi rice thingy with sauteed spinach and garlic and ginger in olive oil and a poached egg cracked overall and folded in with sliced scallions and rooster garlic chili sauce. Thai basil and holy basil and cilantro, sea salt and black pepper on the side.