Lemony courgette 'risotto'
Serves: 2
Prep time: 20 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Dan Jones
Lemony courgette 'risotto'
Pearl barley is a great low-effort, high-fibre alternative to arborio rice for a midweek risotto. Ours is packed with seasonal green veg, hazelnuts and a good squeeze of lemon
Serves: 2
Prep time: 20 minsTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
325Kcal
Fat
11gr
Saturates
2gr
Carbs
45gr
Sugars
4gr
Fibre
3gr
Protein
9gr
Salt
1.6gr
Abigail Spooner
Abi is our Senior Food Producer. An obsessive foodie with a sweet tooth, she is happiest when baking and is a firm believer that there is always room for dessert (preferably following a big bowl of pasta)
See more of Abigail Spooner’s recipes
Abigail Spooner
Abi is our Senior Food Producer. An obsessive foodie with a sweet tooth, she is happiest when baking and is a firm believer that there is always room for dessert (preferably following a big bowl of pasta)
See more of Abigail Spooner’s recipes
Ingredients
- 100g pearl barley, rinsed
- 1 ltr hot vegetable stock (made using 1 stock pot or cube)
- 100g asparagus tips, cut in half on the diagonal
- 20g blanched hazelnuts
- ½ tbsp olive oil
- 1 shallot, finely sliced
- 1 medium courgette, grated
- 2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
- 2 tbsp chopped tarragon, plus extra leaves to garnish
- 1 unwaxed lemon
Step by step
- Put the pearl barley and stock in a large saucepan and bubble over a medium heat for 22 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pearl barley is almost tender and cooked through. Add the asparagus for the final 2 minutes.
- Meanwhile, toast the hazelnuts in a dry frying pan over a medium heat until pale golden. Set aside to cool, then roughly chop.
- When the pearl barley has about 10 minutes left to cook, heat the oil in the frying pan and gently cook the shallot for 3-4 minutes, covered, until softened. Stir in the courgette, garlic and some seasoning and cook for a 2-3 minutes until the courgette has wilted.
- Once the barley and asparagus are cooked, drain, then add to the courgette mixture in the pan. Stir through the chopped tarragon, and the grated zest and juice of half the lemon to taste. Season with salt and pepper. Cut the remaining lemon half into wedges.
- Divide between two bowls and scatter over the chopped hazelnuts, tarragon leaves, any extra lemon zest and the lemon wedges.
