Barley and Mushroom Salad

By KDHarmon

This hearty grain salad combines barley with sautéed mushrooms, leeks, and shallots. Crisped pancetta adds a salty kick while it’s rendered fat mixes with lemon juice for a simple dressing.

Ingredients

• 1 1 1 cup barley
• Kosher salt
• 3 3 3 tablespoons Black Truffle Butter
• 1 1 1 medium shallot, finely chopped
• 2-inch 2-inch 2-inch piece leek, white and light green part only, halved lengthwise & thinly sliced
• 2 2 2 cloves garlic, smashed & finely chopped
• 1 1 1 pound Mushrooms, trimmed and rough sliced and lightly scored
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• 4 4 1/4-inch ounces Ventrèche, cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 1/8 1/8 1/8 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 1 1 lemon, juice and zest

Details

Servings 4
Adapted from dartagnan.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. Cook the barley in a medium saucepan of boiling salted water until tender, 50 - 60 minutes for hulled or hull-less, 20 - 30 minutes for pearl. Drain; spread out on a sheet pan and set aside to cool slightly.

2. Melt truffle butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add shallot, sauté until softened and translucent, about 3 minutes. Add leek and garlic; sauté about 3 minutes more. Add mushrooms, turning to coat; season mixture with salt and pepper. Continue to cook until mushrooms are soft and start to brown, about 10 minutes; add thyme, sauté about 1 minute more. Spread mushroom mixture evenly over the barley, set aside.

3. In a small skillet over medium-high heat, sauté the ventrèche until rendered, golden brown, and crisped.

4. Spread the parsley and ventrèche evenly over the surface of the mushroom barley mixture. Add the juice and zest of the lemon and drizzle about 3 tablespoons of the rendered ventrèche fat evenly over the top; season with salt and pepper. Toss mixture together before serving on a platter.

Recipe tips: The salad can be made 3 hours ahead and kept at room temperature covered with cling film.

Makes 4-6 servings.