Barley salad with pesto and feta, a very tasty and nutritious cold main dish, easy to prepare and perfect for hot summer days, whether at the beach or in the mountains, or for office lunches. I made a quick almond and basil pesto, but you can use ready-made pesto to be quicker in preparation. I love barley, with caramelized cherry tomatoes it’s a real delight and a good substitute for rice in many recipes.
Let’s get to work and prepare the barley salad with pesto and feta together.
OTHER COLD DISHES
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 2 Hours
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 4 People
- Cooking methods: Boiling
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Spring, Summer, and Autumn
Ingredients for preparing barley salad with pesto and feta
- 2 cups pearled barley
- 1 cup basil
- 1/2 cup almonds
- to taste salt
- to taste organic lemon zest
- 4 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
- 1 oz sun-dried tomatoes in oil
- 2 tbsps Taggiasca olives
- 7 oz feta cheese
Tools
This post contains affiliate links
- Hand Blender
Steps to prepare barley salad with pesto and feta
Rinse the pearled barley under running water. Boil it in plenty of salted water (20 minutes in a pressure cooker, but twice as long in a regular pot) following the package instructions.
Meanwhile, prepare the pesto: wash and dry the basil. Take only the leaves and put them in a bowl or a tall container. Add the salt, almonds, and Parmesan cheese. Combine the oil and some very cold water, a few pieces of organic lemon zest, and blend with an immersion blender until you get a coarse pesto.
Drain the barley and put it in a bowl. Season with a drizzle of oil and let it cool. Cut the feta into chunks and add it to the barley. Season with the basil and almond pesto, the olives, and the drained and chopped sun-dried tomatoes. Let it marinate for a couple of hours before serving.
Storage
You can store the barley salad in the fridge for two or three days.
