barley risotto with seared scallops

I was in the grocery store this afternoon looking for inspiration for dinner.  Perusing through the aisles and observing all that The Food Emporium had to offer, I walked by the fresh seafood counter.  I saw some really great looking scallops.

I was tempted to grab some bacon and call it a night, but the inner (healthier) cook inside me said let’s try something different.

So I settled upon a bag of organic barley, some fresh Italian parsley and a bag of mini Meyer lemons.  Here’s what I ended up with…

~Lemon-Parsley Barley Risotto with Seared Scallops~

What you’ll need

• 1 cup of barley
• 3 cups of chicken stock
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
• Lemon juice
• 1 tbsp softened butter
• Fresh sea scallops
• Salt/pepper to taste

What you’ll do

• Start by getting your risotto going.  Bring the 3 cups of chicken broth to boil
• In a large pot, lightly sweat the onions in some olive oil.  Add in the white wine and cook until evaporated
• Add in the barley and cook for about 1 minute

• Now add in one cup of the hot chicken stock
• Keep the pot simmering until the stock evaporates (stirring frequently)
• Add in the rest of the stock 1/2 cup at a time, stirring continuously.  You should begin to notice a creamy sauce forming as the stock evaporates

• When you’ve put in your last bit of stock, heat up some olive oil in a pan for the scallops
• Cook the scallops for about 2-3 minutes per side

• While that’s happening, add your parmesan cheese to the risotto.  Follow with the butter, lemon juice (I used the juice from one small lemon) and the fresh parsley, seasoning to taste
• Mix well and serve with the scallops drizzled with olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper

try a little tenderness

I’ve noticed that when I cook, I tend to pay too much attention to my food.  Often impatient for the onions to brown or the vegetables to soften, I’ll poke and prod until I am finally shooed away from the kitchen so that the food can cook in peace!

That was until I met the risotto.

A classic Italian preparation of rice (that’s right, it’s more of a technique than a type of rice), risotto needs a lot of attention!

Tonight I made a special kind of risotto.  I found the basic gist of the recipe in a book of mine, but let’s just say I took some…culinary liberties…

And since I’m eating the finished product as I write this, I can vouch for how it turned out – yummy!

~Creamy risotto with sweet Italian sausage and baby Portabello mushrooms served with an arugula and orange salad~

What you’ll need (for ~6 servings)

• 1 1/2 cups of short grain risotto rice
• 1 lb of sweet Italian sausage (casings removed)
• 5-6 large baby Portabello mushrooms (chopped)
• 1 onion (thinly sliced)
• 1 clove of garlic (minced)
• 2 cups of chicken stock
• 1 cup of water
• 6 tbsp of grated Parmesan cheese
• Arugula
• A few orange segments (chopped)
• Sea salt/freshly ground pepper
• Olive oil

What you’ll do

• Start out by heating the olive oil and placing your sausage in a pan, cooking it for about 10 minutes over a high heat

• When fully cooked, remove the sausage but keep that flavored oil in your pan.  When the sausage has cooled a bit, take a few seconds to break the it into bite size pieces
• Drop the onion and garlic into the pan and cook until soft over a medium heat

• Add the uncooked rice and coat with oil

• Here comes my favorite part.  Add in 1 cup of the chicken stock and stir, stir, stir!  When the stock has been absorbed, continue to add and stir the remaining stock/water until the rice becomes al dente.  This will require an almost constant stirring. Yipee!

• When you are done, you’ll be able to see a nice sauce forming from the starch that has been released from the rice

• Season with salt and pepper, mix in your sausage and chopped mushrooms

• Now add your cheese, and once it melts into your rice – get your plates ready!
• Take some arugula, top it with some diced orange segments as a quick and light side salad to balance the rich and creamy rice.  Sprinkle your risotto with more Parmesan cheese and please enjoy!