Beetroot Risotto with Bresaola

Risotto is my favourite comfort food. I absolutely love the stuff. Does anyone watch Saturday Kitchen? Well, if I were ever to appear on there it would definitely be my food heaven, and it must be the dish that I have made the most, in fact in my second year of University I must have made it every week without fail, much to the disapproval of my boyfriend; 'but it's just rice and cheese'. It is so much more than that!

Obviously, risotto is normally made with rice, but for a change I decided to use pearl barley, which I had never tried before, and it turned out delicious, in fact I actually preferred it to a 'traditional' risotto which was surprising. The beetroot is sweet, and turns the whole risotto purple, while the bresaola adds a salty flavour (although this could be left out if preferred).

Serves 2

Ingredients

Butter

1/2 onion, finely chopped

170g pearl barley

1 glass red wine

1 litre stock

200g pre-cooked beetroot

30g grated parmesan (or pecorino)

4 slices bresaola

Method

1. Fry the chopped onion in a knob of butter, taking care not to burn, for around 10 minutes.

2. Add the pearl barley and cook for a further 2 minutes.

3. Add the wine and simmer, stirring frequently until no liquid remains.

4. Add a quarter of the stock, and simmer, stirring frequently, until no liquid remains. Repeat with remaining stock. It should take around 30-40 minutes for all the stock to be absorbed.

5. As the last portion of stock is added, add the beetroot to warm through.

6. Remove the risotto from the heat, add the grated cheese and stir through. Leave to sit for 2 minutes.

7.  Serve the risotto topped with the slices of bresaola!