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Pearl Barley with Spinach and Pork Mince

This is a filling pork and spinach orzotto - like a risotto, but with pearl barley instead of rice.

By bbcfood · From Open Recipes · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Barley and spinach share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and 47 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol, which smells clove, smoky. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 4
Prep30 min
Cook1 hr

Ingredients

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Finely chop the small onion. Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, add the onion, and cook for 5 minutes until soft.

  2. Add the pork mince and break it up with a spoon. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes until browned and it reaches 160°F (71°C) in the thickest part.

  3. Stir in the pearl barley for 1 minute, then pour in the white wine and simmer for about 3 minutes until mostly absorbed.

  4. Add the vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Reduce to a gentle simmer, partly cover, and cook for 35 to 40 minutes, stirring now and then, until the barley is tender. Add a splash of water if it becomes too dry.

  5. Stir in the spinach and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until wilted. Roughly chop the parsley and stir it through.

  6. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste, then serve hot.

By bbcfood. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Barley + spinachtop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together47 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).

  2. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together34,118 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Spinach + peppertop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together3,400 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  4. Olive + parsleytop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together8,668 recipes

    Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).

  5. Olive + spinachtop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,700 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Flavor stand-ins for the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, pork, barley, spinach, white wine, parsley, pepper):

  1. Potatobetter flavor fit
  2. Tomatobetter flavor fit
  3. Capsicumbetter flavor fit
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, pork, barley, spinach, white wine, parsley, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).