Ingredients:
- 1 white onion, diced
- 225g of pearl barley
- 15-30ml of olive oil
- 1 litre of chicken stock (use homemade stock if available, but if not bouillon, or better than bouillon works just fine)
- 1 can of Godspeed Brewery lager, or substitute with white wine
- 30-50g of butter
- 30-50g of Parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper to taste.
Method of preparation:
Add your onions and olive oil to a small rondeau or deep sided skillet. Start on medium/medium high heat to sweat your onions. You’re essentially trying to transfer the flavour of the onion into the oil.
When onions appear translucent, add your pearl barley. Stir well and make sure that the onion and oil mixture coats every grain of barley. Toast for three to five minutes. You don’t want any colour, but you do want the grains toasted. Season lightly.
Add your beer/white wine. There should be enough to cover the contents in the pot. Cook it down until all liquid is absorbed.
At this point, you will start adding your chicken stock, ladle by ladle. This is crucial as, if you add too much at one time, you run the chance of getting a thick starchy mess. Taste as you go and you will see how the texture changes in the barley. You might need more liquid and if so, just add more stock until a desired cook is achieved.
Once cooked—you will know because you have tasted barley—it’s time to finish the barlotto.
At this point I like to wet the barley with more stock, add butter and parmesan, and stir vigorously. Taste and season, add more cheese or butter according to your preferred taste. You want a slightly “soupy” look before serving.
Serve immediately as the barlotto will seize up quickly. It will still taste absolutely delicious but the texture will change. You can also loosen up the barlotto again by adding a little more stock or liquid.
