Barley Cooked like Paella

The toothsome texture of properly cooked barley is fun and appealing, but preparations are frequently bland. We tried cooking it exactly like paella and it came out great, and we even got a good socarrat crust. If fideuà is a thing, why not a barley "paella"?

The finished barley "paella"

We followed the same recipe we've been using recently to work on developing a proper crust at the bottom, the socarrat. It did take all the stock we'd normally use for Bomba rice, 5 Cups, instead of the 3 Cups you'd use to prepare barley the conventional way.

We sauteed the sofrito ingredients (shallots, peppers, tomato, garlic) in the veal fat, removed and sauteed the ham, removed then sauteed the barley a bit just like we'd do for rice.

First addition of veal stock to sautéed ingredients

We wanted an earthy flavor for the cold weather so went with veal fat instead of oil, a veal stock to cook the barley, with ham, roasted red peppers and artichoke hearts.  We added the veal stock at successive times, each time waiting for it to evaporate and build up the crust a bit. We ended up adding maybe a cup of water to finish off the barley, which took about 45 minutes to cook through sufficiently.

Add toppings: roasted peppers, artichoke hearts

The veal stock made it a bit too rich, a bit "sticky" so next time I'd probably use about 3 Cups veal stock and 2 Cups water. The barley came out with a pleasant and playful chew, almost a bounce. All the grains were distinct, like the rice in a good paella. 

Adding some water to finish cooking until toothsome