Pumpkin Barley-Risotto Style

When searching for winter squash recipes, you will definitely come across ravioli and risotto. After successfully mastering pumpkin ravioli, I decided to give risotto a shot.

Butternut squash is most commonly used but I had a gorgeous squash from the farmer's market. It's called a sunset squash. The name does more justice to the beautiful color than my pictures. If you have ever seen a tree with red leaves in the fall that were so vibrant and red that they almost glowed they were so vibrant, that's what the skin of this squash looked like.

P.S. It was difficult to cut the squash like this. Looks pretty but I would only suggest you do slices if you are comfortable in the kitchen with a knife.

Feel free to use risotto rice. The only change to the directions would be the cooking time. Rice would only need about half the time. I have made barley risotto-style before and loved it. I really enjoy the flavor of barley but don't cook it that often because it takes so long. I should get more in the habit. Barley is cheap: around $0.70 per pound in these parts. Barley works great for risotto because it becomes tender but still has a nice bite. Just a few tidbits of hopefully useful knowledge:

• Barley takes a long time to cook. Everything was simmering away even with the stove set right between off and medium so I left it there. Once the barley hit the pan, it needed about 65 minutes to cook.
• I added water/stock about every ten minutes.
• I only stirred the pot every five minutes. You do not have to stand over the stove the whole time. Just please don't forgot about your glorious pot of food while it's cooking!

I had two secret ingredients. Many recipes I found only added chunks of squash. I wanted the flavor of the squash to be the star so in addition to the pieces of squash, I added a cup of squash puree. Not only did the make the flavor of the pumpkin the star, the puree added a nice creaminess.

My second secret ingredient was a granny smith apple. The tartness of the apple provided tasty balance to the sweet and savory pumpkin. I made sure to add the apple towards the end to make sure it still had a little bit of crispness. Below are a few shots of the barley in the process of cooking, a few extra tips I learned along the way, and the recipe. Enjoy!

This is to show where I kept the stove temperature the entire time: right in the middle between off and medium. The onions took ages to cook and 65 minutes passed between adding the barley to the pot and being on my plate but it was well worth it. Feel free to try cooking the barley at a slightly higher temperature. I have no idea what will happen.

The barley smelled delicious while toasting in the pan, much like my current favorite ale. I was inspired!

Here's what the pot looked like after the first addition of  water/stock. Don't be afraid of the color!

Pumpkin Barley-Risotto Style

by Ace Nation

Cook Time: about 60 minutes

Keywords: entree vegan winter squash barley

Ingredients (serves 3)

• 5-7 cups water, stock, or a combination
• 1 cup hulled barley
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 yellow or white onion, diced finely
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups roasted winter squash or pumpkin, diced into bite-sized pieces
• 1 cup roasted winter squash puree
• 1/2 14 ounce can of white beans (about 3/4 cup)
• 1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored, and diced

Instructions

Place the water or stock in a small sauce pan, bring to a simmer, and keep warm.

In another larger sauce pan, heat olive oil over medium-low to medium heat. Add onion, stirring occasionally, cook until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes.

Add garlic, stirring occasionally, cook until tender, about 5 minutes.

Add barley and cook until aromatic, about 3-4 minutes.

Stir in 1 1/2 cups of water/stock at a time and the squash puree, stirring about every 5 minutes until the liquid is mostly absorbed.

Then, add 1/2 water/stock at a time, stirring occasionally.

After about 50 minutes of adding 1/2 liquid, add the diced squash, white beans, and apple to the pan and additional water/stock as needed. At this time, I begin to add 1/4 cup water/stock at a time. Stir very gently.

Continue the process of adding water/stock and stirring until the barley is fully cooked. The grains will be tender but still slightly chewy.

Enjoy!

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