Orzotto with porcini mushrooms and sausage

Orzotto, or pearl barley cooked like risotto, is a specialty of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, in the northeastern Italy. My recipe, however, combines together the flavors of that region with mine, the Veneto region. Sausage and dried porcini mushrooms, that I brought from Italy, match perfectly with pearl barley. The result is a warming up dish ideal for a cold winter day.

Ingredients (2 servings)


160 gr pearl barely
1 Italian sausage
25 gr dried mushrooms
1 l vegetable broth
1/2 onion thinly chopped
1 garlic clove
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons Parmesan
salt and pepper
a few leaves of rosemary

Preparation

1. Soak the mushrooms in hot water for at least 30 minutes.

2. Rinse properly the pearl barely.

3. In a large pot, heat the olive oil and the butter. Add the garlic and the thinly chopped onion. Cook until the onion is soft (add two tablespoons of hot water). Stir in the mushrooms and cook over moderately high heat for about 5 minutes. Remove the garlic.

4. Add the pearl barely and toast over high heat for one minute. Pour in half of the boiling broth. Season with salt and pepper. Cook over moderately low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent it from sticking.

5. In the meantime, remove the casing from the sausage and crumble it into small bites. Heat a pan and add the sausage. Cook until well roasted. Remove the excess fat from the pan.

6. Add the roasted sausage to the barley. Stir well. Add also a few leaves of rosemary. Now gradually add the stock ladle by ladle, waiting until each ladleful has been absorbed before you add the next. Stir continuously until the barley is cook (about 15 minutes). The barley is cooked when al dente and suspended in a creamy sauce.

7. Remove from the heat, add the Parmesan and stir well. The orzotto is now ready to be served!

8. Buon appetito!