Print Barley risotto with pulled pork, fennel and chard
Our Italian style pulled pork is packed with fennel, herb and garlic flavours. A little goes a long way, so it’s good for adding to this veg-packed risotto. You could use spinach leaves instead of chard, or shredded and blanched spring or summer greens.
Ingredients
- Oil for frying e.g. sunflower or light olive
- 1 leek, finely shredded or 1 onion, peeled & finely diced
- 1 head chard, white stalks & green leaves separated, stalks finely diced
- 1 fennel bulb, trimmed & finely diced (save any green leafy fronds)
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled & finely chopped or crushed
- ½ tsp ground fennel seeds
- 1 tsp dried thyme or mixed herbs
- 350g pearl barley
- 2 litres chicken or veg stock
- 1 pack Riverford Italian style pulled pork
- 50g Parmesan, grated
- Salt & pepper
Method
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a heavy-based pan. Add the leek or onion, chard stalks and fennel. Fry on a low heat for 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until all the veg has softened.
- Meanwhile, bring a pan of water to the boil. Add the chard leaves and boil for 2-3 minutes to wilt them. Drain, refresh in a bowl of cold water, drain again and squeeze the leaves to remove excess liquid. Chop up the leaves.
- After 15 minutes, add the garlic, ground fennel and dried herbs to the softened veg. Stir for 2 minutes.
- Add the barley and 1 ½ litres of stock to start with. Season with a little salt and pepper. Bring up to a low boil and cook for approx 25 minutes, until the barley is tender NB it will still have some bite. If needs be, top up with a little more stock to stop it drying out.
- Stir in the pulled pork, chard leaves and parmesan. Check the seasoning before serving.
Cooks notes
No pulled pork? Try leftover cooked roast pork and add a little more garlic and fennel seeds to the dish.
