Orzotto is an alternative to rice. In short, it is an incentive to vary your diet. It can be kept dry, just like risotto and creamed with Parmesan cheese.

Or you can keep it slow and make a soup out of it. In this case, add at least 250 g of stock compared to what is indicated below.

Unlike rice, barley is very rich in fibre. With beans, it becomes extremely detoxifying! Barley is almost always pearl barley, i.e. without the outer skin, but there is also whole barley, although it takes longer to cook.

Ingredients

• 100 g dried pearl barley
• 50 g white onion
• 150 g chanterelle mushrooms or other types of mushrooms
• 600 g vegetable stock
• 30 g extra-virgin olive oil
• 60 g of smoked bacon
• 60 g precooked beans or other beans. If you use dried beans, soak them for at least six hours before cooking
• 20 g Parmesan cheese
• rosemary or chives to taste
• salt and pepper to taste

Preparation methodology

Boil the barley in unsalted boiling water for 40 minutes. Don’t have time? With the pressure cooker, the time can be halved. What’s more, you can boil the barley in advance for the next day. In fact, it tastes better the next day! Alternatively, you can find various pre-cooked cereals on the market, such as spelt, which is a good substitute for barley.

Chop up the white onion. Add 20 g of olive oil and brown the onion in the Ghisanativa over a gentle heat together with the bacon cut into strips or cubes. Use the lid after the first three minutes. Stir from time to time and leave for a further five minutes. If necessary, add a dash of water to prevent the onion from sticking or burning.

Clean and cut the mushrooms into 2.5/3 cm pieces. Add them to the onion. Cook over a gentle heat without a lid for five minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Depending on the mushrooms you have available, consider whether they deserve a short blanching in boiling water in addition to cleaning.

Heat up the vegetable stock.

Add the barley after draining it. Continue cooking, as if it were risotto, adding the stock as the mushroom Orzotto dries out until it is tender. This takes about 15 to 20 minutes. The taste test is the best solution in this case. 5 minutes before the end of cooking, add the drained and rinsed pre-cooked beans.

Only at the end add the Parmesan cheese, the remaining oil, and cream off the heat.

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Roberta de Salvador

“Bellunese doc, omnivorous and publicist journalist with a passion for food and wine. She graduated in Communication Sciences and then did a 10 kg master’s degree at Gambero Rosso, kilos she lost with a healthy diet and lots of walking in the mountains. The recipes she shares with us revisit traditional Italian cuisine and are repeatable even for those who are not PRO cooks.”

The recipe was prepared on