pea barley risotto

I told B that I would cook some real dinner recently. Closet Cooking is his favorite food blog, so he requested that I make Kevin's pea barley risotto.

I thought that a whole onion would be overpowering, so I replaced it with a shallot. I like shallots better anyway. We prefer our grains softer than al dente, so I cooked the barley longer and added extra broth (I think I ended up using about twice as much). I'm also lazy, so I got bored after twenty or thirty minutes of stirring and wandered off. I think you're just fine to do this as long as you check up on the dish every few minutes and then stir it constantly at the end to keep it from burning. It may decrease the creaminess. I don't know, but I do know ours tasted delicious. We were feeling a little skittish, because the last risotto we made involved practically a whole bottle of wine and was so soused we couldn't eat it, so we tried a batch with wine and a batch without. The batch without wine was fine, but the batch with wine was so much better than I won't be making it any other way. I forgot to stir in the parmesan at the end, but it was great anyway. We liked this so much we stocked up on barley and white wine on our next shopping trip so we could have it all the time. So thanks, Kevin, for the recipe.


pea barley risotto, modified from Closet Cooking
1 tablespoon butter
1 shallot (chopped)
1 clove garlic (chopped)
1 cup pearled barley
1/2 cup wine
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup parmigiano-reggiano
1 tablespoon butter
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Melt the butter in large sauce pan.
2. Add shallots and saute until softened.
3. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.
4. Add barley and stir to coat with the butter.
5. Add wine and stir until evaporated.
6. Add stock and stir occasionally, checking frequently.
7. When stock is nearly evaporated, check the texture of the barley. If it is still too firm, add more stock. When you like the texture, add the peas and continue to stir until stock is evaporated.
8. Add cheese, butter, salt, and pepper, and stir.