Squash, barley, blue cheese and walnut salad

Squash, barley, blue cheese and walnut salad

Autumn

I used to think autumn was my favourite season, but now, as I look out of the window at the trees, I realise I love all four seasons, equally. Cooking helps me remember this. Everything I make is tangled up in the shifting patterns of the year, but I’ll make most things I like to eat only once or twice during that time. It is the forgetting that makes every dish special. 

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 100g (3½ oz) pearled barley
  • 1 squash, such as a crown prince or butternut, or a couple of onion squash
  • 4 garlic cloves, thickly sliced
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • a small handful of sage leaves
  • a small handful of rosemary sprigs
  • a handful of walnut halves
  • a few handfuls of salad leaves (I’ve used some small kale and chard leaves, as well as fennel tops)
  • 75g (2½ oz) your favourite soft blue cheese
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the dressing

  • 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 2 teaspoons unrefined caster (superfine) sugar
  • 1 small garlic clove, very finely grated, or crushed to a paste

Method

Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/Gas 6.

First, make the dressing. Put all the ingredients in a small jug, season, and whisk until thoroughly combined. Set aside.

Rinse the pearled barley well, then put it in a large pan and cover with plenty of cold water. Set the pan over medium–high heat and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 20–30 minutes, or until the grains are tender. Drain well, then while the barley is still warm, spoon over a third of the dressing, season with salt and pepper, and turn together.

While the barley is cooking, halve and deseed the squash. If it needs peeling, do this, too. Cut the squash into large bite-size chunks. Scatter the squash and sliced garlic cloves over a roasting tin. Trickle over the extra-virgin olive oil and tear over the sage leaves and rosemary sprigs. Season with salt and pepper and tumble together. Roast for 45–50 minutes, turning occasionally, or until everything is soft, sweet, and caramelized.

At this point, scatter in the walnut halves – you can break them up a bit if you like – and the cooked barley. Return the tray to the oven for 5 minutes, then remove it, turn everything once more, then allow to cool to room temperature.

Wash and spin-dry the leaves you’ve decided to use. Tumble these through the salad, right there in the roasting tin. Crumble over the blue cheese and trickle over the remaining dressing before serving.

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