Europe was beautifully bright and sunny with lots of refreshing salads and summer fruits. I almost forgot it was winter in Sydney until I woke up to a black rainy sky at 6.30 am on my return. It’s a shock to the system being thrown back into winter fruit and vegetables. My body is still craving those lovely salads but it’s just too cold to eat them! At least we have blood oranges, the saviour of winter.
This risotto is rich and warming - perfect for winter - and uses pearl barley instead of rice. Arborio rice, commonly used in risottos, has a high glycaemic index. Some quick science behind the reason for this. White rices such as Arborio, Calrose, Jasmine and Japonica rice (such as that used in sushi) are mostly short grain varieties with a high level of amylopectin starch. Amylopectin is a starch made up of branched chains of glucose units. The branched structure allows water to penetrate the grain easily during cooking and gelatinise the starch. Gelatinised starch is broken down rapidly by our digestive system into glucose units which causes a sharp spike in blood glucose levels. Longer grain rices such as basmati have a lower level of amylopectin with increased amounts of amylose starch. Amylose consists of unbranched chains of glucose units which pack tightly together. This does not allow water to penetrate easily and the starch is not gelatinised to the same extent. Thus, amylose starch is broken down into glucose and released into the blood stream much more slowly. This makes sense when you think about what each rice variety is used for. Short grain rice is used for sushi and asian dishes because its sticky while basmati is a much drier rice when cooked. And remember that barley lowers cholesterol due to its beta-glucan content as discussed before.
Ok, back to the recipe! Serves approx 4
I have approximated in cups as I rarely cook using scales.
- Olive oil
- 1 tbsp butter
- Red onion finely chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
- 1 leek chopped
- 3 - 4 cups of chopped mushrooms – you can use a mixture of flat, portobello, oyster and shiitake
- 3 cups of baby spinach
- Handful of chopped parsley
- 5 cups of chicken stock plus more if needed (heated)
- 1 cup of pearl barley
- ¾ cup of labneh (yoghurt cheese – this is optional)
- 2 - 3 cups of baby spinach
- Salt and pepper
Sauté onion in olive oil until translucent, add leeks and half the garlic and cook until soft. Add barley, stir and then add two cups of warm chicken stock. Bring mixture to boil and then reduce heat and simmer until most of stock is absorbed, stirring frequently. Add remaining stock, about 1/2 cup at a time, allowing stock to be absorbed before adding more and stirring frequently until barley is tender.
Meanwhile, melt the butter and gently sauté the mushrooms. After about three minutes, add the remaining garlic and stir until mushrooms are golden. Add to risotto and when ready to serve stir in the spinach, labneh, parsley, salt and pepper.
I sometimes serve with a little parmesan or a drizzle of lemon olive oil or flaxseed oil.
P.s. Dave, send me a pic if you make this risotto, mine was taken with an Iphone...
