Risotto Isn't Just For Rice

I love risotto.  I mean, I simply adore risotto.  There is something magical about a rice dish so delicate it almost tastes creamy.  Wine, onion, stock, all come together and sing in beautiful harmony.  So I was going to make a mushroom risotto last night when my dad came over for dinner.  I picked out some wonderful portobello mushrooms and proceeded to the rice aisle at my local market and... there was no arborio rice.

I panicked, then thought of my options.  I could use a long grain rice, but would it hold up to cooking process and still keep some structural integrity and a little bite?  Probably not.  Brown rice is a bit starchier.  Maybe that could work?  But alas, basmati was the only brown rice in stock and again, it would likely lose the delicious al dente quality in a good risotto.  I scanned up and down the shelves, hoping there was just one bag of arborio, or any short grain rice, simply misplaced.  And then my eyes found... barley.

Something shouted out to me, and I found myself reaching for it, wondering, could this work?  So I added it to my cart and home I went, resigned to ordering pizza if it didn't turn out.

Barley certainly takes a long time to get soft.  But, and this is key, it doesn't need to be 100% soft in order to taste amazing.  It is perfectly wonderful done slightly al dente.  So I figured I would just need to increase the amount of stock I used, but that I could keep the basic recipe of a risotto intact.  And sure enough, it was wonderful!

This is topped with an arugula salad with a lemon vinaigrette, which was my acidic component in the finish of the dish.


Mushroom Barlotto
2 cups pearl barley
2 quarts vegetable stock
1 cup white wine
1/2 onion, diced
8 oz portobello mushrooms, diced
2 tbsp butter
Salt, pepper, red pepper flake to taste
Melt the butter in the bottom of a pot, then add the onion and sweat.  Add the barley, stirring constantly until it is all coated and starts to toast.  Add the wine to deglaze, then add the stock a cup at a time, adding more when it is nearly all absorbed.  After 4 cups of stock, add the mushrooms and red pepper flakes.  When the barley is nicely al dente, add salt and pepper to taste.

I guess risotto isn't just for rice.  What would Joe Bastianich say?