Barley risotto with mushrooms and goat's cheese

Over the past six years, I've gradually been able to gently (and sometimes forcedly) persuade Mitch to try a handful of foods which originally disgusted him. The most infamous incident, was when our seriously sweet-toothed family introduced him to naughty treats - we were successful to the point where he's now a bona fide dessert connoisseur. He can sniff out a cheesecake in no time.
I proudly boast to whoever will listen, that where he once turned his nose up at tuna, olives, sushi, mango and smoked salmon, he now devours them. He used to gag at the mention of avocado, but now he's quite partial to some guacamole or avo on toast in the morning. In fact there's been nothing I haven't been able to convert him to, so far.

He, on the other hand, has had no such luck in enticing me with a fork-full of my dry retch-inducing, all-time enemy - the mushroom. Whether it's a shitake, a portobello, a porcini or just a plain ol' brown one,  I've been picking tiny pieces of the slimy suckers out of my spaghetti bolognese for as long as I can remember.
Any attempt by Mitch to get me to "just try one" of his beloved mushies has always been met with the stink eye. But after all of the taste-testing episodes that I forced my husband into, encouraging him to quit his foot-stomping and to "just trust me, because they taste nice," I today decided that I owed it to him to cook an entire dish that paid tribute to the wretched fungi. Yep. After years of selfishly cooking meals for him that were completely devoid of mushrooms, I went the whole hog and cooked Ross Dobson's mushroom risotto. Mitch thought Christmas had come early and waited with baited breath as I took my first bite.

And of course, my surprised, but satisfied "mmmmm" was met with a giant smirk and a defiant "I told you they were NICE".

And they were.  

I ate an entire bowl of dark brown, mushroomy risotto and I didn't even gag. I might have even enjoyed it.  I can't say I'm a complete fungus convert, but I might just sneak a handful of them in to some future meals. 

But the mushrooms weren't the only ingredient I was experimenting with in this dish. I also used barley for the first time. Here, I used it as a substitute for typical risotto rice. It worked well, and the result was similar to that of brown rice. Slightly crunchy and nutty - not to mention nutritious. Between the barley, red wine, goat's cheese (and dare I say it) mushrooms, this risotto was very flavoursome and filling.

Warning: with the butter and cheese component, it's slightly more indulgent than the past few recipes I've posted. But I managed to cut the butter measurement, and thus the guilt, by half.

Barley risotto with mushrooms and goat's cheese

Serves 4

20g dried porcini mushrooms (I used shitake, because that's what was already in the pantry)

1 litre vegetable stock

65ml red wine

50g butter (I used Nuttelex)

1 tablespoon virgin olive oil

1 leek, trimmed and thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, chopped

330g pearl barley

400g fresh brown mushrooms, sliced

50g soft goat's cheese

a small handful of fresh flat leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped

sea salt and cracked pepper

Put the dried mushrooms in a heatproof bowl and cover with 125ml boiling water. Let soak for 20 minutes. Drain the mushrooms and reserve the soaking liquid. Roughly chop the mushrooms and set aside.

Combine the stock, red wine and reserved mushroom soaking liquid in a saucepan set over low heat.

Heat half of the butter (I skipped this part) and the oil in a heavy-based saucepan set over medium heat. Add the leek and garlic and cook for about 4-5 minutes, until the leek has softened. Stir in the barley and cook for 1 minute, until shiny and glossy.

Stir in the fresh and dried mushrooms and cook for 2-3 minutes, until the mushrooms have wilted.

Add about 125ml of the hot stock mixture to the barley and stir constantly, until almost all the liquid has been absorbed. (This will take a little longer than cooking with risotto rice). Continue adding the liquid a little at a time and stirring for about 45 minutes, until all the liquid has been added and the barley is tender.

Stir in the goat's cheese and remaining butter (25g), until the cheese has melted. Season to taste with salt and pepper and sprinkle over the parsley. Serve immediately.