This Barley Pea Pesto Salad with Grana Padano and Prosciutto di San Daniele is always a crowd-pleaser – It’s wonderfully wholesome, and loaded with proteins as well as looking impressive and tasting superb.
I love using pearl barley in my salads, it’s such a fabulous grain. Packed with tons of fiber, vitamins and minerals, barley may also help lower cholesterol and blood pressure. It’s also super cheap and keeps you full for longer.
This Barley Pea Pesto Salad comes together in less than 30 minutes and only requires a bunch of ingredients: cooked pearl barley, homemade pea pesto, Grana Padano cheese and Prosciutto di San Daniele.
I’m completely obsessed with pea pesto lately, it’s just so tasty and easy to make. It’s refreshing, with a sweet & tangy aroma, and it really takes only a food processor and 5 minutes to put together.
Being the proud Italian that I am, even though I go local as much as possible, there are few Italian ingredients I could never live without. Grana Padano cheese and Prosciutto di San Daniele are definitely two of them.
One of the key ingredients in Italian cuisine, Grana Padano has a bold but not over-powering taste, it’s umami-rich, loaded with proteins and complements any kind of meal. My favourite way to eat it is definitely shaved in refreshing salads such as this Barley with Pea Pesto Salad.
Prosciutto di San Daniele is a lovely addition to this vibrant barley salad, if you have tried it before, you know that it’s not like any other dry-cured ham. It has a distinctive salty, gamey taste and a uniquely sweet after-taste.
Both Grana Padano and Prosciutto di San Daniele carry the PDO (Protected Designation of Origin ), which is a guarantee of origin, authenticity and quality of the best products in the European Union. To learn more about these two amazing products, visit the Prosciutto di San Daniele and Grana Padano sites.
Back to this awesome Barley with Pea Pesto Salad, once you have all your ingredients at hand, all you have to do is mixing the barley with pea pesto, add in Grana Padano shavings and few slices of Prosciutto di San Daniele, and you’re good to go.
Perfect for a light protein-packed lunch, picnic or easy fuss-free dinner, once you try this Pearl Barley with Pea Pesto Salad you’ll want to make it over and over again!
WATCH ME MAKING THIS BARLEY PEA PESTO SALAD:
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- 250gr pearl barley, rinsed
- 80gr Grana Padano cheese, shaved
- 5-6 slices of Prosciutto di San Daniele
- 100gr rucola/rocket leaves
- 400gr boiled peas
- juice of half lemon
- 2 garlic cloves
- 70gr pine nuts
- 2 tbsp of extra-virgin olive oil
- sea salt & freshly cracked black pepper
- Boil the barley for about 15-20 mins in a pot of lightly salted water until tender, but still al dente.
- Transfer into a colander and cool under fresh running water, then drain well.
- In the meantime, prepare the pea pesto. In a food processor add cooked peas, lemon juice, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil and a generous pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Blend until smooth for about 1 min, scraping down the edges with a spatula half-way through.
- In a large salad bowl mix together cooked pearl barley with ⅔ of the pesto (store the remaining pesto for another day).
- Add in rocket leaves and Grana Padano shavings and give it a nice mix.
- With the help of your hands roll each slice of Prosciutto di San Daniele into the shape of a rose, and place on top of the salad.
- Add some optional freshly cracked black pepper and serve immediately. Enjoy!
**This post is sponsored by Grana Padano and Prosciutto di San Daniele. I truly recommend these brands and I’m really proud to collaborate with their team. Thank you for supporting the brands that support The Petite Cook!**