Asparagus & Pistachio 'Pearlotto'
- charliemidd
- May 10, 2021
- 3 min read
A delicious combination of flavours & textures!
I'm super happy with this recipe, I hadn't cooked with pearl barley before but it is super easy and delicious! It feels like risotto but has a little more roughness to it hence 'pearlotto!'
The flavour combination is great with the asparagus, the sweetness from the peas but the tartness of the lemon, and when the pistachios hit...it's magic!
It's simple and quick to make once the pearl barley is cooked.
How do we do it?
Creamy and flavoursome! If you want to make this dish look a little fancy, save 4 asparagus spears to place on top of your 2 servings of the 'pearlotto'. If you can't be arsed to faff about then you'll only need 4 asparagus spears for the dish.
Recipe - Serves 2-3
100g Pearl Barley
500ml Water
1 White Onion
3 Garlic Cloves
1 Tbsp Olive/Coconut Oil
Pinch Salt
8 Asparagus Spears (4 for 'decoration' )
Handful Mushrooms
1/2 Cup Green Peas
Juice 1 Lemon
Pinch Black Pepper
Sprinkle Nutritional Yeast
100ml Oat Cream
1/8 Cup Pistachios
Sprinkle Garlic Powder/Granules
Method
1. Wash the pearl barley, add to a medium saucepan, pour over the water and boil on a high heat for 10 mins. Once boiled, reduce to a low heat, cover and cook until softened but still has a slight crunch to it.
2. Whilst you are waiting on the pearl barley, start to prepare and cook your vegetables.
3. Finely chop the onion, heat oil in a pan and once hot add in the onion and fry. Sprinkle in a pinch of salt and 3 crushed garlic cloves. Stir well and fry until the onions soften and become translucent.
4. Keep an eye on your pearl barley!
5. Roughly chop the mushrooms and asparagus spears and fry up with the onions.
6. Add in the peas, drizzle the lemon juice and add a sprinkling of black pepper. Fry up on a low-medium heat stirring to combine everything well.
7. Once the pearl barley is done, drain the water and add to your veggie mix, stir well and ensure the pan is now on a low heat.
8. Next prepare your 4 asparagus spears for the topping (if you are going to do this fancy pants bit)
9. Blanche them for 1 minute to soften. Place in an oven proof dish, drizzle with olive oil, a sprinkle of salt, black pepper and garlic granules and place under the grill. Keep turning them so the whole asparagus cooks and softens evenly.
10. Whilst the asparagus is under the grill get back to your pearlotto! Sprinkle over the nutritional yeast, drizzle in the oat cream and stir in the pistachios.
11. Once the asparagus spears are cooked through, remove pearlotto from the heat.
11. Serve pearlotto laying 2 grilled asparagus spears on top and some crushed pistachios. Enjoy!
Tips
Keep and eye on your pearl barley so that it doesn't over cook. The packet instructions suggested 50 minutes of cooking but mine was ready before that. Add in more water if needed during cooking.
I'm a big garlic fan so used 3 cloves to make it extra garlicky, but make it to your taste!
I use Oatly oat cream but you could use any plant based cream such as soya etc.
Nutritional yeast is optional but it adds to the cheesy, creamy flavour plus gives you some B12 too.
I get loads of my ingredients from Buy Wholefoods Online check them out as they have such a range of products at great prices.
Let me know if you give this recipe a try and tag me on social media in your pics!
Any questions please get in touch.
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