Thursday 31 January - Pearl Barley Risotto

A hunt through some vegetarian books to find something different to eat tonight led me to this Sophie Grigson recipe for pearl barley risotto with mushrooms.

The basis is obviously pearl barley instead of rice, and this was soaked for a few hours, and then simmered for 20 minutes in salted water.

This was finished off much like a normal risotto, but without the need for all the stirring, all the stock went in at once.

Onion was sauteed, then added to this soaked dried porcini mushrooms, sliced button mushrooms and some garlic

The stock was made from the mushroom soaking water, and these stock cubes I found in Waitrose the other week.

Once the vegetables were soft, in went the precooked barley and some marsala

The stock was then poured in and simmered until it was reduced and the barley was tender.

It was all finished off with some parsley and some grated parmesan in the same way as a normal risotto.

Served with a green salad and some homemade bread.