Barley Risotto With Greens and Seared Scallops Recipe (2024)

WOW. do not recommend. what a dairy/starch/gut bomb. and too involved. 5 steps, between the puree prep, the barley, the chard, the assembly, and then the scallops. save your time. make a great, straight up loose/proper risotto and drop in some hard heat bay scallops at the end with some fresh herbs and great parm on top. you'll be much happier in half the time. this is NOT worth the effort. only touch that i'd recommend is the chopped hot peppers on the sea scallpops.

I agree that this called for WAY too much cream and butter. I used one cup cream (and part of that was light cream) and then some plain yogurt. For the barley, instead of 2 sticks of butter, I used half a stick.

In an effort to make this MUCH healthier I made the full veggie puree but only with 1 cup of cream and 1 cup of water. Turned out just fine! Then, instead of risotto I made the onions and the swiss chard separately and then made one full cup of barley combined with 2 cups of veggie broth. It was just enough fluid to make the barley chewy which was perfect. At the end I combined the barley with onions and chard in a dutch oven and then poured about 1/2 of the root vegetable puree on top. Solid!

This was a delicious dish! Yes, a few extra steps but well worth the effort. I didn’t use as much cream. I used about 1 1/2 cups and the rest water to cover the vegetables. Simmered low and slow. I only made half the amount of barley. Plenty for 4 to 6 people. I would make this again for a special occasion.

In an effort to make this MUCH healthier I made the full veggie puree but only with 1 cup of cream and 1 cup of water. Turned out just fine! Then, instead of risotto I made the onions and the swiss chard separately and then made one full cup of barley combined with 2 cups of veggie broth. It was just enough fluid to make the barley chewy which was perfect. At the end I combined the barley with onions and chard in a dutch oven and then poured about 1/2 of the root vegetable puree on top. Solid!

Wow, a lb of pearled barley?!! This completely filled my Dutch oven. Would you cook an entire lb of Arborio? I took others advice and cut butter and cream in half, and it is still very rich. It's interesting, but I wouldn't make it again. Besides, I have enough "risotto" to feed my family of nine for two nights.

I agree that this called for WAY too much cream and butter. I used one cup cream (and part of that was light cream) and then some plain yogurt. For the barley, instead of 2 sticks of butter, I used half a stick.

WOW. do not recommend. what a dairy/starch/gut bomb. and too involved. 5 steps, between the puree prep, the barley, the chard, the assembly, and then the scallops. save your time. make a great, straight up loose/proper risotto and drop in some hard heat bay scallops at the end with some fresh herbs and great parm on top. you'll be much happier in half the time. this is NOT worth the effort. only touch that i'd recommend is the chopped hot peppers on the sea scallpops.

Extremely rich with two cups of cream and two sticks of butter and totally unnecessary. Those amounts can easily be reduced. Loved the purée combination or potato, rutabaga, carrot with coriander and bay. It would actually make quite a nice soup on its own with stock added and much less cream. Leave at least some of the vegetables in chunks as is photographed. The pickled peppers are more necessary than optional to balance the richness. Do everything ahead up to the scallops.