Another winner from the Jerusalem book, the first time I’ve cooked with pearl barley and the we all loved it – a really simple and very tasty vegetarian alternative to normal risotto. The feta makes a great contrast to the silky chewy grains, I served it with a salad of roasted beetroot, tomato and butter beans with coriander.

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To Feed 4: 200g pearl barley, 2 sticks celery, 1/2 large onion, 4 cloves garlic, 30g butter, 8 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 4 sprigs thyme, 1/4 tsp chilli flakes, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, 4 strips lemon peel, 700mls vegetable stock, 400mls passata, 1 diced tomato, 200g feta, 1 tbsp caraway seeds

Rinse the barley in a sieve and leave it to drain over a bowl. Finely chop the onion, celery and garlic. Heat the butter with 2 tbsp of the oil in a heavy-based pan and fry the veg for about 5 minutes until it begins to soften. Add the thyme, spices, lemon, stock barley, passata and tomato. Season well and bring to the boil, then simmer gently for 45 minutes to an hour stirring frequently till the liquid is absorbed. Whilst the barley is cooking get the feta marinating. Toast the caraway seeds in a dry pan for a couple of minutes, then crush them in a pestle and mortar, leaving lots of whole seeds too. Crumble the feta into a bowl and stir in the seeds and the rest of the oil. To serve, spoon the marinated feta onto the hot risotto.