White Bean Barley with Arugula Pesto

5 from 5 votes

White Bean Barley with Arugula Pesto

Ready in less than 20 minutes, this white bean barley has homemade arugula pesto stirred into the grains and cannellini beans.

Prep Time5

Cook Time12

Total Time17

Course: Side Dishes

Cuisine: Italian

Servings:

Author: Paige Adams

Ingredients

1 cup pearled barley
2 cups water
2 garlic cloves
3 cups baby arugula
1/4 cup whole almonds plus 1/4 cup chopped almonds
1/4 cup grated Parmesan plus more for serving
Juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup olive oil
1-15 ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 scallion, thinly sliced

Instructions

In a medium saucepan, combine the barley and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 12 minutes until tender but chewy. Let stand for 2-3 minutes and fluff with a fork. Drain the remaining water if necessary. Transfer to a large bowl.
To make the arugula pesto, put the garlic, 1-1/2 cups arugula, 1/4 cup whole almonds, Parmesan, lemon juice, salt and pepper in the bowl of a food processor. Finely chop the ingredients. With the motor running, drizzle the olive oil through the feeder tube until the pesto is fully combined.
Stir the pesto and beans into the barley.
Then fold in the remaining arugula, 1/4 cup chopped almonds and Parmesan.

Notes

Instead of arugula, you can use baby spinach.

You can use brown rice or farro instead of barley. (Both barley and farro contain gluten, but brown rice does not.)

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 3 days. Warm them in the microwave or eat them cold as a salad. You can stir in fresh spinach, arugula or other leafy greens and add a little balsamic vinaigrette or lemon vinaigrette.

You can cook the barley and make the pesto up to 2 days in advance. Store them in separate airtight containers in the fridge. Before you are ready to assemble the recipe, let the barley and arugula pesto sit out at room temperature for 20 minutes.

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