A delightful loose speltotto that tastes of summer but can be made year-round because it uses frozen peas. This dish is vegetarian and a great option for a meatless meal.
Recipe for speltotto with peas, lemon, and hazelnuts
A delightful loose speltotto that tastes like summer but can be made all year round because it uses frozen peas.
This dish is vegetarian and a great option for a meat-free meal.
We got the recipe from the book: “River Cottage Veg Every Day!”
Servings: Servings
Speltotto with peas, lemon, and hazelnuts
A delightful loose speltotto that tastes of summer but can be made year-round because it uses frozen peas. This dish is vegetarian and a great option for a meatless meal.
Ingredients
- 75 gram Hazelnuts with or without skins
- 27 gram Olive Oil or rapeseed oil
- 1 pcs. Onion large and chopped
- 4 cloves Garlic sliced
- 250 gram Perlespelt or pearl barley - preferably soaked in cold water for 20 minutes
- 400 gram Peas frozen
- 400 gram Vegetable Stock
- 1 pcs. Lemon large and untreated
- Sea Salt
- Pepper Freshly ground
- Broad leaf parsley Chopped (for serving)
- Olive Oil Extra virgin. For drizzling
Instructions
- Roughly crush the hazelnuts with a mortar and pestle, or wrap them in a tea towel and bash them with a rolling pin until they break into pieces. Place the nuts in a skillet with 1 tbsp. oil and a little salt and toast carefully for 1-2 minutes until golden - watch out, they burn quickly. Transfer them to a plate and set aside.
- Heat 1 tbsp. oil in a medium-sized pot. Add onions and a pinch of salt and sauté gently for about 10 minutes until the onions are soft - stir occasionally. Add garlic and sauté for another minute. Remove the pot from the heat.
- Rinse the pearled spelt or pearl barley in a sieve and transfer them to a pot. Add a pinch of salt and pour in plenty of cold water to cover (the grains will absorb a lot). Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and let it simmer until the grains are tender. Barley takes 35-40 minutes, spelt about 20 minutes.
- While the grains are cooking, return the pot with softened onions to the heat. Add half of the peas and the hot broth. Bring to a boil and let it simmer for 2 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and use an immersion blender to turn the contents into a strong green, thin puree.
- When the grains are almost tender, add the other half of the peas. Let it simmer for 1-2 minutes until both the grains and peas are tender. Drain off the water.
- Mix the spelt or barley and peas with the hot green puree (reheat it carefully if needed). Season with salt and pepper and stir thoroughly.
- Divide the speltotto into warm serving bowls, grate lemon zest over and sprinkle with toasted hazelnuts. Optionally, add some parsley and drizzle with extra virgin oil. Halve the lemon and give each bowl a squeeze of juice. Season once more with salt and pepper and serve.
Notes
Substitute:
Grains: Use brown rice instead of spelt or barley.
Vegetables: Replace half of the peas with small broad beans – add them to the simmering spelt.
Grains: Use brown rice instead of spelt or barley.
Vegetables: Replace half of the peas with small broad beans – add them to the simmering spelt.