This creamy pumpkin barley with sausage is comforting, hearty and an easy fall meal. It’s similar to risotto with a bit more chew from the barley and a heck of a lot quicker to make.

Yesterday, we hiked 6.6 miles to a decrepit fire tower on top of Fontana Lake in North Carolina. It was a 2 hour trip up with about 1.99 of them at a minimum 45% incline. The winds were blowing so hard, trees were bending and snapping everywhere around us and all I could picture was the scene in Twister where the telephone pole thing smashed through the windshield piercing that dude through the head. Except minus the twister and the windshield part…

We were freezing, wind blown and exhausted by the time we got back to the car almost 4 hours later and you know what sounded great?

A big bowl of this creamy pumpkin barley.

Instead though, we got gas in the only town with cell service within about an hour driving distance and pulled into the McDonald’s drive through attached to it. Not my finest moment.

I have such fond memories of my mom making risotto on cold weather days in the fall and winter (never in the summer) that I wanted to try to recreate that with this pumpkin barley. The only thing about risotto I can’t stand is the time and patience it requires. Who wants to slowly ladle in broth spoonful by spoonful waiting for the rice to absorb it as you stand over the stove for almost an hour.

Yeah, not me.

The thing I love about risotto, however, is that creaminess and Silk works perfectly in this recipe with the pumpkin to bring plenty of that to each bite. The chew and heartiness of the barley beats out rice any day in my opinion and the quicker cooking time for the whole thing makes this a healthy but comforting meal you can easily get on the table for a weeknight dinner.

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Yield: 4 servings

Creamy Pumpkin Barley with Sausage

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This creamy pumpkin barley with sausage is comforting, hearty and an easy fall meal. It's similar to risotto with a bit more chew from the barley and a heck of a lot quicker to make.

Prep Time 2 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 22 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup barley
• 2 cups water
• 3/4 pound ground sausage
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup Silk Unsweetened Original Almondmilk
• 1 cup broth (any kind: chicken, vegetable, beef)
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan

Instructions

1. Combine barley and water in a small sauce pot. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook covered until the water has been fully absorbed. Turn off heat and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, cook sausage in a large pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat until browned. Remove sausage to a dish and set aside.
3. Lower heat to medium and melt butter in the pot.
4. Once melted, add the flour and whisk until incorporated with the butter.
5. Add the Silk, broth and pumpkin and whisk until thickened, about 2-3 minutes.
6. Add the cooked barley to the pot and stir.
7. Season with the smoked paprika, sage, salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
8. Turn off the heat, stir in the parmesan and taste for seasoning. Add more salt and pepper is necessary and serve immediately with more parmesan and sage for garnish.

This conversation is sponsored by Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.