sing pearl barley and nutty, whole grains of spelt instead of rice makes for a more gutsy mix than a regular risotto, and robust chard copes with the long, slow cooking where spinach would collapse to mush. Whole spelt is available from health food shops, or use all pearl barley – in which case you may need to add more liquid with the parmesan or vegan-friendly nutritional yeast flakes. These quantities are for a large 5-litre slow cooker; halve them for a 3.5-litre capacity. Prep time: 15 minutes | Cooking time: 3 hours SERVES Four to six INGREDIENTS 125g pearl barley 125g whole spelt grains 3 large leeks, sliced and well washed (tough dark-green part excluded) 3 garlic cloves, sliced 3 tbsp olive oil 400ml chicken stock 800g rainbow chard, well washed Zest of ½ lemon 4 sticks celery, chopped into peppercorn-sized pieces 2 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes or 4 tbsp grated Parmesan For the pangrattato 3 tbsp olive oil 50g dry breadcrumbs or panko crumbs Zest of ½ lemon 2 garlic cloves, crushed A pinch of chilli flakes METHOD Put the barley, spelt, leeks, garlic, olive oil and stock in a large slow cooker. Cover and cook for one hour on high.  Cut the stems from the chard and chop them into 3cm pieces. Rip the largest leaves in half (to make hand-sized pieces; you can make them smaller if you like but I prefer the texture of big bits of chard). Make the pangrattato. Heat the oil gently in a frying pan. Stir in the breadcrumbs, lemon zest, garlic and chilli, along with a fat pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, until the crumbs go golden and crisp. Tip into a bowl and keep to one side. After the grains have cooked for one hour, stir the chard stems and the lemon zest into the slow cooker and cook for another hour on high.  Pile the chard leaves into the slow cooker (it will be a squash, but persevere) and cook for another hour. Stir well (the leaves should be wilting down) adding the nutritional yeast or parmesan and a splash more water if you need it, plus salt and pepper. Serve with the pangrattato to sprinkle over, plus more parmesan if you like.