barley, sweet potato, and mushroom risotto

This was one of those recipes that looked great in the magazine picture, but one that I never thought I'd actually make because who makes barley?  Well, I have decided I'm goingg to start being more adventurous in my cooking and pushing myself outside the confines of what I am comfortable with.  So, barley risotto it was- and man was I glad I made it.  First of all, barley is accessible at my commissary whereas arborio rice is NOT.  Second of all- there is no second of all, it just looked scrumptious.  Don't trust me yet?  Look at this picture and tell me it doesn't look delish:

It has a bit more of a bite than risotto, but it's a good, scrumptious bite.  And the wine in this dish?  holy smokes it knocks it out of the park.  I love the essence of white wine in my dishes.  mmmmm.

disclaimer: the actual recipe calls for butternut squash and shiitake mushrooms, but since I was talking on the phone at the grocery store and distracted, I accidentally grabbed a sweet potato, which was delicious, and since baby bellas are more affordable at my grocery than dadgom shiitakes, I used them instead.

So here goes; feeds about 4 people

Ingredients:

• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced into bite-sized pieces
• olive oil (for cooking purposes- need I specify?)
• 1 package of baby bellas, dirt wiped off, caps removed, and sliced however you'd like
• 1 yellow onion (although the original uses purple), chopped
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 cup uncooked pearl barley (I think I added another 1/2 cup)
• lots of white wine 
• chicken broth
• freshly grated parmesan (the original recipe calls for taleggio, which I'm sure is delicious but it's also deliciously expensive)
• thyme- 5-6 sprigs
• a dash of half and half, if desired

Directions:

• preheat oven to 450
• put diced sweet potato (or butternut squash) onto a sheet pan
• toss in 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and a good amount of salt and some pepper
• roast until tender, 10-20 minutes 
• in a large stock pot, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat
• once the oil is heated, add your garlic, onion, and mushrooms and a healthy pinch of salt
• let them all cook down for 15 or so minutes (or until wilted and the mushrooms look a golden brown color)
• add barley and let it toast for a couple minutes
• add your thyme sprigs (you can add them whole to infuse it with flavor, or you can put the leaves in)
• deglaze the pan with a heaping amount of white wine (a few swigs around the pot) and turn the heat up to bring the wine to a boil
• let it reduce down a little bit for about 3 minutes, then add enough chicken broth to pretty much cover the barley, let it come to a boil, and then reduce it to a simmer, cover the pot, and let it do it's thing for 30-40 minutes.
• check for seasonings and also to see how the barley is doing
• add your sweet potato and stir in gently
• note: I didn't think mine looked creamy enough- it looked like cooked barley in some liquid and I thought "this doesn't look like risotto or the magazine picture!" but then I took the lid off, let the liquid evaporate a little bit, and added LOTS of freshly grated parm and a little splash of half and half and that did it for me
• oh, I also have an abundance of parsley that I hardly ever use, so I added some to it to "brighten the flavor" as some Food Network chef would say

I encourage you to make this.  I just had it as a main course, and you could do that and add beef tips (and use beef broth instead of chicken for a real depth), or eat it as a side dish.  Either way, it's worth trying and expanding our idea of what "risotto" can be!  happy eating!