A Week of Dinner #2: Butternut Barley Risotto

Double risky dinner attempt tonight. Never had barley nor butternut squash before. This dinner could have been disaster if it turned out we didn't like the two main ingredients. But you can relax because it turned out to be excellent.

Though it was time-consuming.

It took almost 2 hours to complete, from prepping to curling up with a bowl in front of Dancing with the Stars. This is definitely not a weeknight meal. Save it for a drizzly autumn evening, not the night after your husband has not only run but played an hour of racketball. Luckily we had some leftover tater tots in the fridge. They held him off until I could finish.

The recipe was from Parade magazine, and the recipe can be found here.

For my slight variation, you'll need the following (but when you refer to the original, you'll see I followed it pretty closely):

• 1 Butternut Squash, peeled, seeded and cut into inch pieces
• 3 Tbs Olive Oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 Roma Tomatoes, diced (approx 1 cup)
• 2 cans of Chicken Broth
• 1 Cinnamon Stick
• 1 c Pearl Barley, rinsed
• 2 Tbs Dried Parsley
• Freshly ground Salt and Pepper, to taste

1) Blanch the squash, in salted, boiling water for approx 3 minutes.
2) Heat oil in a pot over low heat, then add onion and cook until tender.
3) At the same time, simmer broth with cinnamon stick in a covered pot.
4) Add tomatoes to onions and cook for approx 2 minutes.
5) Stir barley into onion pot, raise heat to medium.
6) Stir in 1/2c broth into barley mixture, until barley absorbs all broth. Repeat until you've used most of the broth.
7) I found myself letting the barley mixture simmer so the barley could absorb/broth evaporate. Whatever works, right? It took awhile to get through the broth, at least 45 minutes.
8) When I was down to a ladle or two left, I added a Tbs of Parsley and the squash, then topped with remaining couple ladle-full of broth (I think there might of been 1 ladle-full that I ended up not using - we were HUNGRY). Stir and let simmer until nearly all the liquid has gone. Barley should be tender.
9) Serve up and cuddle under a blanket while munching on your risotto…Enjoy!