Pearl barley has been one of my favorite grains for as long as I can remember. I love it in soups or on it’s own as a porridge. It is very filling and does not cause blood sugar spike so you will not get hungry again for hours. Goat’s cheese gives this dish amazing creaminess and soft texture while asparagus makes it crunchy at the same time. While I like to focus on plant based ingredients in my food, sometimes we need a little help from other ingredients to make a dish truly extraordinary.

Ingredients:

• 400 g pearl barley
• 125 g goat’s cheese
• 200 g asparagus
• 500 g chestnut mushrooms
• a few garlic cloves
• dried mixed herbs (I love Italian mix)
• olive oil
• salt, pepper

Wash and then cook pearl barley in lightly salted water for 35 minutes or until it is ready. Cooking pearl barley takes a long time, therefore, it is okay to cook it beforehand and then reheat it for this recipe. If not, while pearl barley is cooking, we prepare other ingredients.

Wash the asparagus and mushrooms, peel the garlic. Cut the asparagus into chunks, slice the mushrooms and garlic.

In a deep pan, fry mushrooms with a little olive oil until they are brown, then set them aside. In the same pan, cook the asparagus and garlic for a couple of minutes.

Reduce the heat, then add the pearl barley and most of the mushrooms. Leave some mushrooms to decorate the plate. Season everything with black pepper and herbs. Add slices of goat’s cheese, set the heat to medium-high and cook everything for a minute, constantly stirring so that the cheese melts and spreads.

Put the risotto into plates and decorate with the rest of the mushrooms. Eat right away. Enjoy!