Porcini & forest mushroom pearl barley “risotto”, slow cooked duck egg, pecorino

Yield 6

Author Steven Farhall

Prep time

20 Min

Cook time

1 H & 20 M

Total time

1 H & 40 M

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Porcini & forest mushroom pearl barley “risotto”, slow cooked duck egg, pecorino

Indulge in the luxurious flavors of slow-cooked wild mushroom pearl barley risotto, crowned with a creamy duck egg for a truly decadent twist. This hearty dish boasts a harmonious medley of earthy mushrooms, nutty barley, and a velvety egg yolk that will tantalize your taste buds. Savor each delightful bite of this comforting vegetarian masterpiece.

Ingredients

For the dish

• 6 fresh duck eggs
• 350g pearl barley
• 50g dried porcini mushrooms
• 200g fresh forest mushrooms
• 3 banana shallots
• 1 garlic clove
• 4 sprigs thyme
• 1ltr vegetable or chicken stock
• 50ml double cream
• 1 small handful small croutons
• sea salt
• cracked black pepper
• truffle oil

Instructions

For the duck egg

1. Set up your sous vide machine and get the temperature of the water up to 65oC. Submerge your duck eggs and set a timer for 1 hour. I find duck eggs to be quite irregular in size so if you have any oversized ones give them an extra 15 minutes. if you are making these in advance take the eggs out of the water and cool down straight away in ice water or under the cold tap. Cool completely before peeling away the shell. If making the full dish straight away turn the sous vide down to 50oC and hold the eggs in the water until plating.

For the pearl barley

1. Place the pearl barley into a pan with 2.5times its volume of cold water and a little salt. Bring to the boil and boil hard for 5 minutes then turn down to a gentle simmer and cook for about an hour. The barley should still have a little bite. Strain the barley and rinse under running water to remove some of the starch.

For the mushroom mix

1. Place the dried porcinis into a container and pour over 400ml boiling water from the kettle. Leave to rehydrate for at least 30 minutes. Strain off the liquid through a sieve into a seperate container to reserve. Dice the hydrated porcinis into a small dice. They can be chewy so its best to chop them this way. add them back to the mushroom stock. Prepare the fresh mushroom by checking and brushing off any dirt or grit then chopping into large pieces or how you prefer. In a pan with some olive oil, fry off the diced shallots and garlic without colouring then add the fresh mushrooms and saute off briefly. Add a dash of white wine to deglaze the pan, burn off the alcohol then add the porcini and mushroom stock.

To finish the risotto

1. Bring the mushroom mix to a simmer and add the chicken or vegetable stock along with the pearl barley. Cook the mix down until the liquid has thickened then add a dash of cream with some sea salt and cracked black pepper. Check the taste of the risotto and add sea salt and pepper as required.

To plate

1. Spoon some of the risotto onto the plates and dress with freshly grated pecorino using a microplane and some freshly baked croutons. Reheat the duck egg in some hot water and place on top of the risotto. Garnish with some fresh herbs and a drizzle of truffle oil and fresh truffle shaving if you have some.