Seasonal Asparagus and Barley Risotto
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I think one of the greatest joys of enjoying food is sharing and relearning. This springtime Asparagus and Barley Risotto has finally reached perfection. It is perfectly balanced. Additions include saffron, fresh peas and lemon zest.
My Asparagus and Barley Risotto Story
Right along with the fact that you can do something comforting and interesting with the mundane. This Asparagus Risotto is inspired by a recipe from in an edition of the Gourmet magazine. At first glance I scoffed at the thought of barley measuring up to sinfully rich, melting soft arborio rice. . In fact, my only encounter with barley had been the mushroom barley soup at Yonah Shimel Knish Bakery. Anyhow, that was enough to convince me that the grain had potential. Overtime, I learned how to cook it and have even worked though this recipe enough times to have a version of this Barley Asparagus and Radish Risotto. It is good, but not complete and springlike enough. Without today’s additions of the saffron and lemon zest .
This is what is interesting about this risotto, it actually is pretty creamy without an inordinate amount of grease. The barley retains a bit if chewiness but still lends some creaminess to the dish. Sorry, I have not saved the clipping so I cannot really link or mention the recipe more specifically.
The radishes add a nice crisp finish to this dish. If you want to keep the dish vegan, by all means work with olive oil and skip the shaved Parmesan. As for the finishing sprinkle of chopped pecans or almonds, that is important! I love this toothy delicate and wholesome dish, chances are once you welcome this into your life you will too!
It has taken some trial and error to get this recipe to a point where I really like it, but that is always the case, possibly why I spend as much time updating recipes on this as I do writing new ones. Almost need to get to a certain point before I can do a pencil down on a recipe.
A good barley soup recipe that I stand behind is this recipe and for a quick and easy risotto consider this instant pot version.
An interesting take on risotto with barley and asparagus, green peas and radishes - a perfect seasonal dish perked up with saffron and lemon zest.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup pearled barley
- water for cooking the barley
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 pound. fresh asparagus
- 15 to 20 young radishes with greens
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 shallots thinly sliced
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 cup of vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon saffron strands
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
- plenty of freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup fresh green peas
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast to finish
- 2 tablespoons chopped pecans or almonds
Instructions
- Place the barley in a pot with plenty of water and simmer for 25 minutes, which prepping the rest of the dish.
- When the barley is cooked but still firm drain and set aside, do not drain the water.
- To prepare the asparagus, remove about 2 inches of the tips set aside, cut the remaining asparagus into small 1/2 cm pieces.
- Remove the radish leaves and chop finely and thinly slice the radishes and set aside.
- Heat the olive oil and the butter and add in the shallots and cook for about 5 to 7 minutes. Add in the garlic and cook for 1 or 2 minutes.
- Add in the barley and the water. Gradually add in the stock and salt and pepper, when the stock begins to simmer add in the chopped asparagus and radish greens. Cook the mixture for 10 minutes, until the barley is tender and the liquid is mostly absorbed. Stir in the saffron strands, lemon zest and fresh thyme and black pepper and mix well.
- Add in the asparagus tips and the green peas and mix well. Cover for five minutes.
- Add in the sliced radishes and cook for an minute. Mix in the nutritional yeast.
- Sprinkle with the chopped pecans or almonds and serve.