In the Fruili-Venezia Giulia, a region of Italy bordered by Slovenia, Austria and the Adriatic Sea, there’s a long standing tradition of making “orzotto” or barley risotto. It requires very little stirring, and is yet another delicious excuse to eat whole grains. Inspired by this, I put together this vegan barley risotto recipe with mushrooms, leeks, white wine, celery, walnut oil and more. I hope that you enjoy it as much as we have!
This recipe makes ~4-6 servings, depending on whether it’s served as a main or side dish.
Two things…
- While it takes a lot of stirring to agitate high starch rice enough to release its starch into risotto, it isn’t necessary for pearled barley. That’s right folks, this is creamy without constant stirring!
- Is the walnut oil essential? It tastes good without it, but it tastes even better with it.
Please enjoy this simple, tasty recipe for barley risotto! And discover additional UVK recipes, like Baked Barley with Chickpeas, Spinach and Vegan Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto, Beet Risotto, Vegan Italian Herb Risotto, Fennel Risotto with Orange Zest, Vegan Sauerkraut, White Bean and Barley Soup and more.
Barley Risotto with Mushrooms and Leeks
4 Tbsp vegan butter (I used Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks)
1 large leek, finely chopped (OR ~1 cup finely chopped leeks)
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped (OR ~⅓ cup finely chopped celery)
1½ cups pearled barley
1 cup thinly sliced white mushrooms
1 cup dry white wine
3 cups fake chicken broth (I used 1½ cubes Edward & Sons Not-Chick’n Bouillion Cubes + 3 cups water)
¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp nutritional yeast
1 Tbsp roasted walnut oil, optional (see notes above)
Black pepper, to taste
1. First, you’ll sauté the aromatics for the barley risotto. In a medium pot over medium-high heat, add the vegan butter, leeks and a dash of salt. Sauté ~1 minute and then, add the garlic and celery. Stir until soft.
2. Next, add the barley for the risotto. Stir it around in the pot for a few minutes until it’s fragrant and lightly toasts. Then, add the mushrooms and stir until they completely sweat out.
3. Add the wine. Constantly stir until the wine completely reduces and scrape any bits from the bottom of the pot.
4. Add the broth. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer over low heat, cover and cook for ~25 minutes or until fully cooked through. Every now and then, stir the barley risotto, and check to make sure it doesn’t need additional broth or water.
5. Remove the barley risotto from heat. Stir in the parsley, nutritional yeast, walnut oil (if using), and black pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning, if needed. Serve.
4 responses to “Barley Risotto with Mushrooms and Leeks”
I had a dish very similar to this recently in Romania and I loved it so much. I thought it was so unique. I’d never had any risotto other than arborio but it was delightful and this just reminded me of that. Thank you 🙂
Sounds lovely! You’re welcome.
This dish looks interesting! Thanks for sharing. I’m an Instant Pot enthusiast. So, I plan to sauté first in the Instant Pot and then pressure cook the barley risotto using hulled barley. Have you used hulled barley and/or a pressure cooker to make this dish? If so, interested in how it worked out.
Thank you! Unfortunately, I don’t have any meaningful experience using an Instant Pot or a pressure cooker, so I lack any helpful tips there. But I’d love to learn from your experience, and others may as well!