Beetroot and pearl barley risotto, two ways

This recipe is one I made up after going to a lovely training venue in the centre of Birmingham with some colleagues from Brook (the venue is The Studio on Canon Street, if you're interested) where we were served a delicious lunch, and this was part of it.

The first time I made it was the next day, and I tried to replicate it as closely as I could working to what I could identify from the flavours.  This version has feta cheese and was served with thick, creamy yogurt as part of a selection of different complementary hot dishes.

I have still not quite conquered the fine art of working out exactly how much pearl barley you need to go with how much liquid, given that this is a one-pot, absorption method dish, but I feel quite heartened by the fact that apparently the formidable Jack Monroe's carrot and pearl barley risotto also takes longer than expected to cook (and she's amazing) so...let's roll with it.

Version 1: Vegetarian, with feta; serves 3-4, with some salad etc, and keeps nicely for lunch.

1 small butternut squash, peeled and diced into bite sized pieces
1 onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 small pack of cooked and pickled beetroot, dipped in vinegar, from the salad section at the supermarket, chopped
1 large or 2 small courgettes, diced
1 carton or can of tomatoes (about 400g - a standard sized one)
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
Smoked paprika, to taste (1 tsp for me)
Cumin, to taste (up to 1 level tsp)
1 pack of feta, drained and chopped into smallish cubes
Roughly 100g of pearl barley
1 vegetable stock cube or a level tsp of Marigold bouillon powder
Enough boiling water to just submerge everything, and then more as you need

Method: saute off the onions, and add all the other ingredients except the feta, pearl barley and boiling water.  Cover and leave it all to cook down gently together.

When the vegetables are nearly tender, add the pearl barley and stir it through, then the boiling water to just cover.  Leave it to simmer, covered, and keep coming back to check regularly.  I'm not sure if this is how you're supposed to cook pearl barley, but it's how I do it and it worked fine.

When it's soft to your liking, stir the feta through, give it a few minutes to melt slightly, and serve with a thick dollop of plain tangy yogurt.  NICE.

The second version includes meat and was inspired partly by my lovely dinner guest ("What do you like to eat?" "Bacon!" "Anything else?" "Beef!" ...okay then!)

Version 2: with thyme, honey, chocolate and slow-cooked beef

1 large onion, chopped
About 300-400ish grams of lean, trimmed, stewing beef (1 smallish pack, basically), cut into small, bite sized pieces
2 rashers smoked streaky bacon, chopped finely
1 onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 small pack of cooked and pickled beetroot, dipped in vinegar, from the salad section at the supermarket, chopped
1 carton or can of tomatoes (about 400g - a standard sized one)
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 can of chickpeas, drained
Smoked paprika, about half a teaspoon
Cumin, to taste (up to 1 level tsp)
Cinnamon to taste (i love cinnamon but you might want to start with a scant teaspoon)
Thyme - or rosemary; I made mine with thyme this time
Splash of sweet balsamic vinegar
About 1 tbsp semisweet or dark chocolate chips (what I had to hand - some broken up dark chocolate would be fine obviously)
1 tsp honey (and then taste it as you go)
Roughly 100g of pearl barley
Enough boiling water to just submerge everything, and then more as you need

This one needs a bit more love and attention because there's meat in it and because you want to get the seasoning to how you like it.

Start by frazzling the bacon and onions together with a tiny splash of balsamic vinegar, and add the beef, along with the garlic and cinnamon.  Let the meat seal, and then add the pepper, paprika and cumin,  Stick a lid on and give it about ten minutes at a moderate heat before adding the tomatoes, beetroot, cumin and thyme.  Lid back on, and let everything come together for another ten minutes or so before adding the honey and chocolate.  Then really you need to let it cook slowly (for the beef) for as long as you can.  I haven't tried but I will have a go in the slow cooker next time.

When the meat is tender, add the pearl barley and boiling water as for the other version, and again just keep an eye on things until the pearl barley is cooked.

Good with a splotch of soured cream, a la goulash!

Again, this was good the next day reheated.