Pearl Barley Bread

Pearl Barley Bread

This is a dense bread made of cracked barley. Serve it lightly grilled and eaten with butter and other accompaniments such as Moroccan salads or yoghurt seasoned with garlic and ground cumin.

Core recipe

Points per recipe: 7½  plus points for any oil used for cooking 1 pt per tsp (5ml)

140g pearl barley
1.6 litres/3 pints water
1 tsp fine sea salt
olive oil, for grilling or frying

Combine the barley, water and salt in a medium to large saucepan and bring to a good simmer. Stir from time to time to stop it from sticking on the bottom, and cook for about one hour until the total volume has reduced by half. Take care at the end of cooking, as the mixture may bubble like hot lava and could burn you.

Use an electric hand-held blender or food processor to roughly purée half the barley, then cook for two more minutes.

Remove from the heat and spread out onto an oiled plate or baking dish so that the mixture is about 2-3cm/1-1¼in thick. Leave until completely cold, then cut into wedges.

Drizzle both sides with a little olive oil and grill on a hot griddle or barbecue until crisp and slightly charred on both sides. If frying, place a frying pan over a high heat and add a little olive oil. Cook crust-side down for 3-5 minutes until browned and crisp, then turn to cook the other side for just a minute or two to warm through. Serve.