In about seven hours I’ll be heading to the train station to pick up a friend I haven’t seen in over five years. FIVE YEARS! Laura and I lived in the same international student house during our exchange in Groningen – which is also how we met the lovely Marjolein, who will be joining us bright and early tomorrow morning. EXCITEMENT!!!!!
In preparation I’ve got a grocery list in my phone that’s very reminiscent of our exchange – i.e. it’s packed full of weird Dutch novelty food that, as newbies to the country, we couldn’t get enough of. Chocolate sprinkles on your bread, anyone? Or perhaps ‘vla flip’ – a mix of different flavours of what is sort of like North American pudding but not really, which no one has ever satisfactorily explained? Stroopwafels? Salty salmiak lollypops for our enemies? It’s all on there! (Ok except for the salmiak lollypops because they are foul and we have no enemies… that we know of…)
Given that I’ll be on a serious sugar high, I also plan to spend the entire weekend shouting ‘lekker ding’ (loosely translated: ‘hot stuff’) at anyone and everyone who crosses my path. Why, you ask? For old times’ sake. On my very first day of exchange in Groningen, I was taught this phrase – some of my very first Dutch words – and told that it was a super common and hip way of expressing your interest in someone. ‘All the cool Dutch people do this!’ they said. ‘It’s totally normal and not at all weird!’ they said.
It seemed plausible enough – the Dutch are after all known for being very progressive and direct. Fortunately I’ve never been so forward as to brazenly walk up to a random fellow in the street and strike up a conversation, let alone use any form of ‘hot stuff’ as my opening line (much to my regret)… because it turns out that this was a cruel and elaborate joke and that ‘lekker ding’ isn’t used nearly as often as I was led to believe – and almost never un-ironically. Which is a darn shame if you ask me.
To this day I’m very suspicious of anyone (including Pieter!) who tries to teach me Dutch slang…
But anyway – this roasted mushroom barley risotto! Clearly my honeymoon with the oven is still going strong.
I’ve called this a risotto, but given that it’s made with barley it obviously isn’t as creamy as regular risotto. On the other hand, it’s a lot less labour-intensive. Much like my one-pan farro alla puttanesca, you basically just chuck everything (except the mushrooms) into a pan and let it do its thing – and it comes out delicious and indulgent and comforting.
Meanwhile, you roast your mushrooms in the oven until they get deliciously fragrant and golden, and your entire place smells just heavenly. Their flavour comes out in full force when they’re roasted, so you get a serious hit of savoury, umami goodness. You could even go wild and add some truffle oil to the mushrooms as soon as they come out of the oven – I’ve done it with this risotto and it’s delicious! – but I thought I’d keep this recipe as simple, inexpensive, and fresh as possible.
The risotto takes about 45-50 minutes to cook, but because it requires minimal stirring you can do whatever you please while you wait. Not that I don’t love to labour over my stove on occasion (seriously, I do!), but sometimes there just isn’t the time. Another lovely bonus: this stuff re-heats just fine the next day and doesn’t acquire that familiar starchy, gluggy texture that regular risotto does.
Now I’d better get back to work before Laura gets here! Happy Halloween weekend everyone! (And if you were wondering, I still haven’t made anything from my Halloween board… but surely it’s only a matter of time.)
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
I've noticed that different brands of barley take different cooking times and different amounts of liquid, which is why I recommend starting with 1L and then adjusting as needed.
If your mushrooms start to look very dehydrated in the oven before they get brown, you can always toss them in a few drops of extra oil.
And on that note, if you don't have baking paper, use more oil than I've indicated... unless you want to find yourself cursing while trying to scrape mushrooms from a sheet pan.
This looks so good Sophie! Also, hello from Toronto!
Riz
Ah thank you for that TO greeting!!!
Girlfriend visits are so much fun and to reunite with Laura after 5 years! Wow! Yeah, you guys are all going to have lots of fun. This risotto is lovely and the roasted mushrooms are perfect! And your pics are gorgeous too. So I have questions about some of the Dutch foods: The chocolate sprinkles on the bread…what kind of chocolate is used? is it like shavings of good chocolate? Of course I had to look up a Stroopwafel and it said it has a caramel inside and you lay it over the top of a hot beverage to warm it before eating. Is that what you do? Does the filling taste just like a typical caramel or is it different in texture or taste? I’m going to try to make one of those as soon as possible
I love that you Googled stroopwafels Karrie! A girl after my own heart 😀
The chocolate sprinkles basically are quite a lot like sprinkles you would put on a cake/donut — http://www.deondernemer.nl/beeld/w640/2014/201410/20141031/hagelslag.nationaal.schoolontbijt.groot.jpg This is the most typical kind. They range in quality and some are made with organic fair-trade cocoa, but there are also very cheap ones of questionable quality. You buy them in a box and sprinkle liberally from that box – preferably onto buttered toast! One or two of the higher quality brands also sell sprinkles that *look* like shavings, but they’re still pre-made so I’m not sure what the process entails to keep them looking that way! haha
The stroopwafels – they are DIVINE! They are ‘caramel’ but not like any caramel I’ve ever had outside of a stroopwafel… the most popular kind are ‘roomboter’ stroopwafels, which are basically ‘butter’ stroopwafels – so how can you really go wrong? I have heard that people put them on their drink to warm them but I’ve never seen any evidence of this… I think that they occasionally have them by the cash register at certain Starbuckses so keep your eyes peeled!! Or if there’s a Dutch shop in your area (I know there are TONS in Canada) I’m sure they sell them! They really are a national favourite – McDonals does a stroopwafel McFlurry here and it is magnificent!!
love mushrooms and I am in mushroom and risotto country! I will try this for sure! Great recipe.
Thank you Diana!! I wish Holland could be considered ‘risotto’ country… haha 😛 cheese country??
Like the sound of this recipe as mushrooms are my thing, what are the broth ingriedients though? Made some no nut no milk cheese the other day that I found on Anja’s Cooking with Plants youtube channel made with sweet potato roasted red pepper and smoked paprica with agar agar to set it. Not quite perfect but if you don’t get it right first time just use it as a spread like wot I did.
Ron. UK.
Hi Ron! I just use pre made vegetable stock, but you could of course make your own
Cheers!
And thanks for the recommendation