A rich and saucy tomato and barley risotto topped with marinated feta from Ottolenghi\u2019s Jerusalem cookbook.<\/em> It\u2019s kind of hysterical when you think about it, but the \u201cme\u201d before kids actually found the process of making risotto\u00a0relaxing<\/em>. All the casual stirring, glass of wine in one hand and wooden spoon in the other, mood music playing in the background. Who cared if we ate dinner at 9PM? There were no bedtimes, no rules \u2013 it was adulting at its finest.<\/p>\n Now it\u2019s more like an extreme sport where I try to get in as many stirs as possible while running back and forth from the kitchen to the living room to make sure Nico hasn\u2019t stuck his finger in an electrical socket under his sister\u2019s \u201csupervision\u201d. With wine in one hand (non-negotiable) and Cocomelon playing in the background (hence the wine).<\/p>\n Needless to say\u2026I don\u2019t make risotto much anymore.<\/p>\n Then one fine Saturday morning I was paging through Ottolenghi\u2019s Jerusalem cookbook when I spotted this recipe for barley risotto with marinated feta. It looked so rich and saucy that I knew I had to try it (on a weekend, obviously, I\u2019m not totally unhinged).<\/p>\n Bracing myself for a multi-hour, dirty-every-pot-in-the-kitchen affair, you can imagine my surprise when I read through the recipe and discovered there was NO STIRRING involved. Okay, a tiny bit of stirring at the beginning just to saute the shallots but after that you just mix all of the remaining ingredients together and let them simmer until the barley becomes tender and releases its natural starches to thicken the cooking liquid.<\/p>\n AMAZING for risotto, but especially considering it\u2019s an Ottolenghi recipe and those are not usually light on the hands on time.<\/p>\n Lest you think that flavor or texture are sacrificed in the name of simplicity, let me reassure you that this is not the case. After sauteeing the aromatics, barley is added to the pot along with fresh thyme, smoked paprika, a dried bay leaf, a few strips of lemon peel, aleppo pepper flakes, crushed tomatoes, tomato passata, and vegetable broth. Not the shortest list but all fairly basic ingredients. Tomato passata, in case you have not heard of it, is basically a tomato puree that is strained of seeds and skins. It is fairly readily available (I got it at Whole Foods) but if you cannot find it you can also blend and strain your own tomatoes.\u00a0<\/p>\n True to Ottolenghi form, this risotto ends up having layers on layers of flavor \u2013 there\u2019s smoke, there\u2019s heat, and there\u2019s tang in this rich sauce that coats the chewy grains of barley in a velvety thick, luscious kind of way.<\/p>\n Although untraditional, I love the use of whole grains like barley and farro in risotto-like preparations. Their chew adds a lot of personality to the finished dish and, I think, makes for a more pleasant and enticing risotto experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Saucy](\"https:\/\/joanne-eatswellwithothers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Saucy-Tomato-and-Barley-Risotto-with-Marinated-Feta.jpg\")