Pearl barley risotto with haloumi crumbs

We've swapped rice for nutty pearl barley in this beautiful pea and prosciutto recipe for a flavour and texture explosion. Try finishing your dish off with a sprinkling of haloumi crumbs to create the ultimate comfort food.

Serves 4

Prep

15M

Cook

35M

Total

50M

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Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

8 slice pancetta

20 gram butter

1 leek, finely sliced

1 clove farlic, crushed

2 cup pearl barley

2 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

1/2 cup dry white wine

6 cup chicken stock, hot

500 gram fresh peas, peeled, podded

250 gram haloumi, half grated, half crumbled

1 cup snow shoots

Method

1.In a large heavy based saucepan heat half oil on high. Cook pancetta slices 1-2 minutes each side, until crisp. Drain on paper towel.

2.Add half butter to pan and heat on medium until bubbling. Saute leek and garlic 4-5 minutes, until tender. Add barley and thyme and cook 2 minutes, stirring to coat grains well.

3.Pour in wine to deglaze pan. Simmer 1-2 minutes until amost completely evaporated.

4.Add stock, 1 cup at a time, stirring until almost completely absorbed between each addition and adding peas with final cup of stock (about 20 minutes).

5.Stir in grated haloumi, remaining butter and season. Cover and set aside 2 minutes.

6.Meanwhile, in a small frying pan, heat remaining oil on high. Cook crumbled haloumi 2-3 minutes, stirring, until golden and toasted. Scatter over risotto with pancetta and snow pea shoots.

If you like, swap fresh peas for 1 ½ cups frozen.
Note

Women's Weekly Food

Trusted by home cooks for 90 years, The Australian Women’s Weekly’s Test Kitchen and cookbooks hold a singular place in shaping home cooking within the Australian culinary landscape. Today, the AWW Test Kitchen in Sydney is a thriving hub for food content, connected to two bustling photographic studios where a talented team of Australia’s best recipe developers, art directors, editors and photographers create our world class food content. Our recipes are thoroughly tested and tasted and given the Test Kitchen tick of approval, guaranteeing you’ll get great results in your home kitchen.

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Ingredients

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