How to make butternut squash and barley risotto with toasted walnuts
Risotto is a dinner staple in Italy – this recipe uses barley to put a delicious, healthier twist on the much-loved classic dish
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Time: 50 mins
Serves 4
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into bitesize chunks
3 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 large white onion, finely chopped
200g barley
1.2l of hot vegetable stock
2 tbsp soft cheese such as mascarpone
35g pecorino cheese, finely grated
1 tbsp walnut oil
Small bunch sage
120g walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
Preheat the oven to 180C. Place the butternut squash onto a large baking tray, drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place into the oven for 40 minutes, turning after 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, place the garlic, onion and remaining olive oil into a large nonstick frying pan and sauté until soft. Add the barley and stir.
Place the stock into a saucepan over a low heat and add to the barley a ladleful at a time, making sure each ladleful is absorbed into the grains before adding another. Continue until the barley is cooked through but still retains a little bite.
Once the squash is cooked, mash half and keep the remaining chunks whole. Stir the mashed squash, soft cheese and pecorino through the cooked barley.
Place the walnut oil into a frying pan over a medium heat, then add the sage leaves and fry for 30 seconds until crispy.
Spoon the risotto onto plates and top with sage and a little of the oil from the pan. Finish each plate with the remaining chunks of butternut squash and scatter with toasted California walnuts and the crispy sage leaves to serve.
Recipe from California Walnuts (californiawalnuts.uk)
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