Friday, November 6, 2020

Buttery Pearl Barley Mushroom Pilaf

This buttery pearl barley mushroom pilaf is a wonderful holiday side dish made with garlic, thyme, white wine and Pecorino. This recipe is easily doubled or trebled if you are fortunate enough to have family around this year.

Food Lust People Love: This buttery pearl barley mushroom pilaf is a wonderful holiday side dish made with garlic, thyme, white wine and Pecorino. This recipe is easily doubled or trebled if you are fortunate enough to have family around this year. This dish is rich and creamy, rather like risotto without the faff of standing and stirring forever. The pearl barley has a similar al dente bite that we love.

Welcome back to Holiday Side Dish Week! My fellow bloggers and I have a whole new list of tasty recipes for you. Make sure you scroll down to the bottom to see them all. No more excuses for serving the same old side dishes! And in the case of my recipe today, the same old starches. 

I must confess that three starches - potatoes, rice and pasta – feature regularly on our family menu. And we love them all! Of course, all three can be used in a variety of recipes and cooking methods but they are still, at the end of the day, potatoes, rice and pasta. 

Do you ever get tired of the same old starches: potatoes? I do! That’s why I’m always on the lookout for other starches that can be served instead like bulgur wheat, Israeli couscous, chickpeas, lentils or freekeh, just to name a few. 

I had originally bought the pearl barley for the traditional British beef and barley soup but as I looked at the packet, I thought, hmmm, looks somewhat like risotto rice! And I created this dish instead. 

Buttery Pearl Barley and Mushrooms

This dish is rich and creamy, rather like risotto without the faff of standing and stirring forever. The pearl barley has a similar al dente bite that we love. I hope you’ll give it a try. 

Ingredients
1/2 cup or 110g dried pearl barley
8.8 oz or 250g small mushrooms
2 tablespoons butter
1 large or 2 small cloves garlic, peeled
1/4 cup or 60ml dry white wine
3 1/2 oz or 100g Pecorino cheese, finely grated
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

To serve: 
fresh thyme leaves
grated Pecorino cheese
good quality extra virgin olive oil

Method
Cover the pearl barley with about 1 1/2 cups or 355ml cold water in a small pot. Bring to a boil, then turn the fire down and simmer until tender, about 45-50 minutes, checking the water level from time to time and adding more, if needed. 

Clean the mushrooms cut off any hard parts of the stems then slice them. Thinly slice the garlic.


In a small saucepan, fry the mushroom slices in the butter until they release all of their liquid and turn a golden brown.


Add in the garlic and fry for a few more minutes. Do not let the garlic burn!


When the garlic is softened, add in the white wine and cook the mushrooms for a few more minutes until the wine evaporates. 


When the pearl barley is just tender, strain it out of the cooking water, saving the water.

Add the barley to the mushroom pan. Stir well. Turn the fire down to a quick simmer. 


Add in about 1/2 cup or 120ml of the cooking water, the grated Pecorino and the fresh thyme leaves.

Food Lust People Love: This buttery pearl barley mushroom pilaf is a wonderful holiday side dish made with garlic, thyme, white wine and Pecorino. This recipe is easily doubled or trebled if you are fortunate enough to have family around this year. This dish is rich and creamy, rather like risotto without the faff of standing and stirring forever. The pearl barley has a similar al dente bite that we love.

Add a few generous grinds of black pepper and salt to taste and simmer for just a few more minutes.

To serve, top the pilaf with a few more thyme leaves and a drizzle of good quality extra virgin olive oil. Put out the Pecorino in case people want to add a bit more on top. In our family, they always do! 

Enjoy! 

Food Lust People Love: This buttery pearl barley mushroom pilaf is a wonderful holiday side dish made with garlic, thyme, white wine and Pecorino. This recipe is easily doubled or trebled if you are fortunate enough to have family around this year. This dish is rich and creamy, rather like risotto without the faff of standing and stirring forever. The pearl barley has a similar al dente bite that we love.

Check out all the lovely holiday side dishes we are sharing today. Many thanks to our host and organizer, Heather of Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks.

Pin this Pearl Barley Mushroom Pilaf!

Food Lust People Love: This buttery pearl barley mushroom pilaf is a wonderful holiday side dish made with garlic, thyme, white wine and Pecorino. This recipe is easily doubled or trebled if you are fortunate enough to have family around this year. This dish is rich and creamy, rather like risotto without the faff of standing and stirring forever. The pearl barley has a similar al dente bite that we love.
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