elfs | Mmm... überrisotto

So, I still had the chard left, and some squash, and the usual carrots and chicken broth. I stopped by the grocery store and bought two extra things I didn't have at the time: 3 oz of pancetta, and a pound of pearl barley. I had always wanted to try cooking with barley rather than rice, so I slammed two of my favorite recipes together with instructions from a third on how to cook with barley, and invented:

Barley Risotto with Pancetta, Chard and Roasted Winter Vegetables

4 cups chicken broth plus two cups water
1/4 tsp thyme
1 medium carrot, sliced
1 small parsnip, chopped
1/2 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cup pearl barley
3 oz pancetta
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tbs. bacon grease (or olive oil) 3 cloves garlic, smashed
1/2 cup dry white wine
4 cups torn chard
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 425F. Put the broth and water into a saucepan and bring to a near-boil.

Prep the carrot, parsnip, and squash, put into a bowl or plastic bag with 4 tbsp olive oil and 1 tsp salt, toss well, arrange in a single layer in a roasting pan, and roast in the oven for 35-45 minutes.

Melt the bacon grease on medium-high heat (or heat the olive oil) in a deep, wide pan. Chop the pancetta, onion, and garlic, and toss into the pan with all of the barley. Stir constantly for about five minutes, until the onion is glassy. Pour in the wine and stir until it's all gone, then cook risotto as normal: 1/2 cup of broth until it's absorbed or evaporated, then another 1/2 cup, stirring frequently (constantly is not necessary). This part might take upwards of an hour. Barley, I've learned, takes a lot longer to release its starch than rice.

Somewhere in all this, the roasted vegetables will be ready. Take them out and let them cool. When the risotto gets creamy and the barley is tender but chewy, mix in the vegetables until they're heated through, then add in the chard and mix, lowering the heat. Let the chard wilt, which should take about three minutes. Turn off the heat, mix in the Parmesan cheese and you're ready to eat.

This was just utterly fantabulous. Barley has a rounder, chewier texture than aborio, and the mix of squash, parsnip, pancetta, and chard made every bite different from the last, in a most delicious way. You really need your sense of smell for this one, too, and it stands up very well to even a strong red wine.