Golden Beets & Barley Risotto – Deliciously Creamy and Richly-Textured

Golden Beets & Barley Risotto with Grated Beets and Beet Greens

Two pounds of golden beets topped my what-to-buy list for Saturday’s farmers’ market. First, though, I bought fresh snap peas and a pound of garlic scapes for Garlic Scape Pesto from my favorite farmers. Then, I headed straight to the gorgeous produce display of he-who-is becoming my second favorite farmer. With their tender greens still attached, two pounds of golden beets joined the peas and scapes in my basket. Once home, finding barley in our cupboard, a creamy and richly-textured Golden Beets & Barley Risotto (with a spoonful of Garlic Scape Pesto) became Saturday night’s dinner.

A second meal
As we had some Golden Beets & Barley Risotto leftover, I chilled it in the refrigerator overnight.  The next day I made Baked Risotto Cakes with it for a delicious second meal. Perfetto with a side salad for lunch or dinner. Golden beets natural sweetness comes forth even more when the baked risotto cakes are served slightly warm or close to room temperature.

To peel or not to peel

Some people say absolutely peel beets and can’t imagine ever not peeling them. Here are my more flexible guidelines.

• With young and tender beets, a good scrub and some trimming around the ends with a peeler or a knife and they’re good to go.
• Peel difficult to clean beets that have lots of grit in their attached roots and greens.
• Older, larger beets with tough and sometimes bitter skin benefit from peeling.
• If you do decide to peel beets, it is much easier to do so after cooking them rather than before.

 Golden beets vs red beets

FYI, for those of you who say you don’t like beets because they taste a bit like dirt, try golden beets. Milder tasting golden beets taste sweeter and considerably less “earthy” than typical red beets.

Great news. Nutritionally, both golden and red beets are the same in terms of vitamins, minerals, fiber, antioxidants and health benefits.

Stock versus broth – an important difference

Although the words stock and broth are often used interchangeably, there is an important difference between them. Culinarily speaking, once a stock has been seasoned it becomes a broth. So, if a recipe calls for stock and you’re using a broth, reduce the salt called for in the recipe. Then salt to taste at the end.

Waste not
Consider keeping a large bag in your freezer for vegetable trimmings. Give items such as leek greens, parsley stems, celery ends, carrot and onion peel, garlic scape tips, etc. a home. When your bag is full, make a pot of stock. If you then freeze your stock, you’ll always be ready to make a batch of risotto or a pot of soup.

Golden Beets & Barley Risotto

• A food processor very quickly grates the beets.
• Homemade stock is best. With packaged “broth,” dilute it by half with water.
• Both the amount of liquid and the cooking time for barley will vary. Take all the time and use all the liquid needed until the barley is cooked yet slightly firm in its center.
• Pearled barley has the hull and bran removed. Like all barley, it contains gluten.
• The butter could be optional, though it does make for a richer tasting risotto.
• Inspired by and adapted from a recipe in Cook’s Illustrated’s Vegetables Illustrated.

Serves 6-8                                         Printer-Friendly Recipe
Total Time  75 minutes
Plus 1 hour if you make your own vegetable stock

Ingredients

• 9 cups homemade vegetable stock (unseasoned) OR 4 ½ cups packaged broth (seasoned) and 4 ½ cups water
• 1-pound golden beets, well-scrubbed, trimmed, grated (about 5 ½ cups), divided
• Beet greens, cut into 1 by 2-inch strips (about 4 cups)
• 1 medium onion, ¼-inch diced (1 ½ cups)
• 1 ½ cups pearled barley, rinsed and drained
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons butter, divided (optional)
• 1-1 ¾ teaspoons sea salt
• 2 large cloves garlic, pressed with a garlic press or minced
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme OR ⅓ teaspoon dried
• ½ cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese (1 ½ ounces)
• Salt to taste

Garnish

• 3 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
• 1 tablespoon thinly sliced chives or scallion greens
• Additional whole parsley and chives or scallion greens

Instructions

1. Prepare homemade stock and keep it warm over low heat. Or, bring packaged broth and water in a pot on the stove to a boil, and keep it warm over low heat.
2. Heat the oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a Dutch oven over medium low heat. When shimmering, stir in the diced onion. Cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes.
3. Uncover the pan, raise the heat to medium and stir in 3 ½ cups of the grated beets and 1 teaspoon sea salt. Cook about 4-5 minutes until the beets have softened.
4. Stir in the barley. Cook another 4 minutes, frequently stirring the barley to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
5. Stir in the garlic and thyme. When fragrant, stir in 1 cup of the warm stock/broth. When fully absorbed, stir in 3 cups of the warm stock/broth. Adjust the heat so the liquid simmers. Stir occasionally until the liquid is fully absorbed, about 20 minutes.
6. Stir in another 3 cups of warm stock/broth. Once the liquid simmers, stir occasionally until it is fully absorbed, about 20 minutes. Taste and add more salt if needed
7. Stir in 2 cups of the warm stock/broth. Test a few kernels of the barley—it should be almost cooked. Stir occasionally for another 5 minutes. Stir in the beet greens and remaining grated golden beets. They’ll take about 5 minutes to become tender. When tender, turn off the heat.
8. Stir in the grated Pecorino cheese and the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter (if using). Adjust the salt to taste. Add additional warm stock/broth as needed for the classic, loose risotto consistency.
9. Serve Golden Beets & Barley Risotto while hot. Garnish with the chopped parsley and chives or scallion greens, plus a few whole leaves as well.
10. Chill any leftover risotto for making Baked Risotto Cakes.

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