Fluffy spelt pancakes

Love these for brunch at the weekend with berries, fruit compote, Greek yoghurt and maple syrup! It is really worth the extra step of whisking the eggs, so they’re lighter and fluffier like American pancakes.

Ingredients

Makes 4-6 x 12cm pancakes

• 130g spelt flour

• 170ml oat milk, or cow’s

• 1 large egg

• Pinch of salt

Method

• Get two medium sized bowls and an electric hand whisk (if not - elbow grease!)

• Weigh the flour in one of the bowls, make a well in the middle and pour in the milk.

• Separate the egg - white in one bowl, yolk in with the flour.

• Whisk the egg white until it forms soft semi-stiff peaks.

• Use the same whisk to mix the flour, milk and yolk, then scrape in the egg white and gently fold in with a spatula. Try to avoid mixing too much as you’ll knock the air out.

• Heat a little olive or coconut oil in a frying pan and then add a small ladle of the mixture.

• Cook until you see bubbles appearing on the edges and towards the centre of the uncooked surface - approx 2-3 minutes (see pic). Flip and cook for about another minute.

Tip

• If you have some mixture left over, keep refrigerated in an air-tight container and it will be fine to use the next day.

Banana, almond, raisin & spelt loaf

This is a great loaf to make for quick breakfasts or healthier afternoon treats as it’s sweet, but not too sweet and has plenty of nutrients in the fruit, almonds and spelt to give you energy. Yes there’s sugar, but it’s definitely packing more goodness than your average sponge! I love this kind of cake as it’s full of interesting flavours and textures, plus there’s nutritional value in it without compromising on taste - win/win! It’s delicious, let me know if you give it a go.

Ingredients

• 150g almonds

• 150g spelt flour

• 125g ground almonds

• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

• 1 ½ tsp baking powder

• 300g banana

• 250g golden caster sugar

• 3 eggs

• 140ml yoghurt

• 70ml rapeseed oil

• 1 tsp vanilla essence

• 80g sultanas

Method

• Preheat the oven to 170ºc and line a 2lb loaf tin - I use these liners.

• Spread the almonds on a baking tray and roast in the oven for 6-7 minutes. Set aside to cool and then chop roughly.

• Mix the flour, ground almonds, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder together in a medium sized bowl.

• Put the bananas into the bowl of a mixer and beat for a minute or so until mashed. You can do this with a fork if you don’t have a mixer.

• Add the sugar, eggs, yoghurt, rapeseed oil and vanilla, mixing well.

• Gradually add the flour etc to the bowl using a large serving spoon, or just tip in slowly.

• Beat with the mixer briefly until the ingredients are just combined, then fold in the almonds and sultanas. I usually turn the mixer on low briefly to do this, it will bump about a bit though!

• Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 1hr 10 minutes and then check with a skewer. It should come out clean when the cake is cooked, if not put back in for a further 5 minutes, check and then repeat once more. It should be cooked through by 1hr 20 minutes, but remove sooner if a skewer taken from the middle of the cake is clean.

Roast fennel, tomato & spelt salad with green olives

This is an easy one tray salad that is almost ready straight from the oven! All you need to do is roast the veggies in one big tray, mix in the spelt and drizzle with olive oil and lemon! It really is as simple as that - I love this salad served warm and topped with crumbled feta, but it works equally well as part of a salad spread or a side to fish, chicken or some fresh bread and butter would be lovely too.

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

• 200g pearled spelt

• 2 fennel, sliced

• 350g baby plum tomatoes

• 1 large garlic clove

• A small handful of green or black olives, ripped in half or thirds if large

• Juice of ½ lemon

• 1/2 tsp sea salt

• Handful of chopped parsley leaves

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180ºc.

• Cook spelt as per instructions, usually simmer for 20 minutes

• Spread the fennel and tomatoes out on a large baking tray and drizzle with olive oil ad a sprinkle of sea salt, roast for 15 minutes, turn and toss in the olives. Put back in the oven for 10 minutes.

• Once the vegetables are cooked, immediately deglaze the tray with approx 80ml of water and then gently stir in the spelt, plus 1-2 tbsp olive oil, lemon juice, salt and a good grind of black pepper.

• Top with fresh parsley to serve.

Tip

• Use the best quality olives as you can afford. I bought some amazing large green olives from Sous Chef linked here, they had a slight chilli heat which worked really well. Cheaper olives can always be improved by soaking for 5-10 minutes in water to make them less salty. Even rinsing will help if you done hace time to soak.

Roast cauliflower, tomato & spelt salad

I bought a packet of spelt the other day with a vague idea of making a salad as I really enjoyed the last one I made with butternut squash and rose harissa. This time I roasted some cauliflower, tomatoes and red onions and then tossed in the cooked spelt whilst warm with a drizzle of oil and a squeeze of lemon - super quick and easy. I hadn’t intended on eating this salad straight from the oven, but did so by accident as I was really hungry! I’d definitely recommend doing the same as it was lovely; perfect if you’re eating outside with family or friends over the next few weeks while it’s a bit chilly.

See below for tips on how you can adjust the ingredients to your taste, or what you have in the cupboard.

*The salad is vegan if you use a plant based yoghurt. Coconut would would be lovely.

Ingredients

Serves 4 as a main, 6 as a side

• 250g spelt

• 1 red onion, halved and sliced

• 300g cherry tomatoes

• 1 cauliflower, small florets

• 1 tsp cumin seeds

• 1 tsp smoked paprika

• Juice of ½ lemon

• ½ tsp sea salt

• A handful of coriander leaves

  Dressing

• 200ml plain yoghurt

• Juice of 1 lemon

• Pinch of sea salt

method

• Preheat the oven to 200ºc

• Rinse the spelt and cook in boiling water for 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.

• Put the cauliflower on a large tray, drizzle with olive oil and scatter over the cumin seeds. Mix well.

• Put onions and tomatoes on another large tray and mix with a lug of oil and the paprika.

• Roast all the vegetables for 15 minutes, check and turn then put back for 5 minutes.

• Remove both trays from the oven and immediately mix the spelt and cauliflower into the tomatoes and onions, stirring well so the juices coat all the grains.

• Mix in 1-2 tbsp olive oil, juice of ½ lemon and salt.

• Toss all the dressing ingredients together, serve warm topped with coriander leaves and the yoghurt dressing.

  tip

• Use plant based yoghurt to make the salad vegan.

• Parsley would also work well if you don’t like coriander

• Serve warm or room temp is fine too.

• Feta or grilled halloumi would be another great topping.

• If you don’t have spelt use pearled barley, cous cous, quinoa or bulgur instead.
  
  

Butternut squash & spelt salad with rose harissa dressing

I made this lovely salad at the weekend so I had some tasty lunches ready for me to grab in between home schooling. It’s been really nice to have something interesting ready eat without having to do any prep - especially as food is the highlight of my day more than ever right now! If you’re going to do the same then just keep the salad and dressing separate and that way it will last 4-5 days without going soggy.

To give you an idea of how much this recipe makes, I managed to trough my way through it in 5 ‘main meal’ sized bowls with a little added cheese and salad.

I know a couple of the ingredients (spelt and rose harissa) aren’t necessarily what you might have in your store cupboard, but they’re easily available online. Or alternatively you could switch the spelt for bulgur / cous cous / brown rice and use ordinary harissa paste or even leave out and just have a tahini dressing (you might need to add a little extra water) - it will still be super tasty!

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

• 230g pearled spelt

• 1 large red onion (yellow is fine too)

• 1 sweet pepper (any colour except. green)

• ½ butternut squash, chopped in 1 ½ cm cubes

• Handful of chopped parsley

• Handful chopped coriander

• Sprinkle of sea salt

• Handful of toasted sunflower seeds, optional

Dressing

• 3 tbsp tahini

• 3 tbsp lemon juice

• 50 ml water

• 2 tsp rose harissa

• ½ tsp sea salt

Method

• Preheat the oven to 200ºc

• Spread the squash out on a large tray and drizzle with about ½ tbsp of olive oil. Do the same with the onions and peppers, mixing well. I used separate trays as the squash will take a little longer to cook. Sprinkle with salt and place both trays in the oven for 20 minutes.

• Check and turn the vegetables with a spatula and place back in the oven. Roast the onions and peppers for a further 10 minutes and the squash for about 20 or until soft right the way through and browned on the outside.

• While the vegetables are roasting, cook the spelt - add to a large pan of cold water and bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until softened. Drain well and allow to cool.

• Now make the dressing by adding all the ingredients to a bowl or jar and whisking well. The tahini will make the mixture stiffen as as you first start to mix, but keep going it will gradually loosen up.

• Mix the spelt, vegetables and herbs with a good sprinkle of sea salt and serve with a generous drizzle of dressing. Top with sunflower seeds if you’re using them.

Tip

• This salad can be eaten warm or cold. With any salad the flavour will always be better if you serve at room temperature. If it has been stored in the fridge, just serve a portion in a bowl and microwave for 1 minute to take the chill off without over-cooking any of the ingredients.

• Add crumbled feta, halloumi, creamy blue cheese and a green salad as a main meal or you could eat it as a side with veggie sausages, griddled meat or fish.