Dutch Warm-Spice Barley Bowl with Kale Stamppot Flavors

About This Recipe

There's no traditional Dutch grain bowl — bowl food isn't part of the country's culinary vocabulary — but this recipe borrows honestly from stamppot boerenkool, the beloved Dutch mash of potatoes and curly kale, and reworks its exact flavor profile into a barley bowl format. The Dutch key to stamppot is nutmeg, used generously with kale and potato, and smoked sausage (rookworst) simmered right alongside, so this bowl keeps both. Pearl barley stands in for the mashed potato base, giving the bowl more texture and bite while still soaking up the same nutmeg-butter seasoning. Curly kale is blanched briefly then sautéed hard in butter until it turns deep green and slightly crisp at the edges, the same treatment it gets when folded into stamppot. Rookworst, if you can find it, is simmered whole then sliced over the top; if not, any good smoked sausage does the job, since the smokiness is what matters here, not the exact brand.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 1.5 cupspearl barley
• 4 cupsvegetable or chicken stock
• 400 gcurly kale(stemmed and chopped)
• 1smoked sausage or rookworst
• 4 tbspbutter(divided)
• 1onion(diced)
• 0.75 tspground nutmeg
• 1 tspfine sea salt
• 0.5 tspblack pepper
• 1 tbspDutch mustard(for serving)

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the barley

   Simmer barley in stock, covered, 30-35 minutes until tender but still chewy. Drain any excess liquid.

2. 2

   Simmer the sausage

   Simmer the sausage in a separate pot of water 15-20 minutes until heated through, then slice into rounds.

3. 3

   Blanch the kale

   Blanch chopped kale in boiling salted water 2 minutes, then drain well and squeeze out excess water.

4. 4

   Sauté the onion and kale

   Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a wide skillet over medium heat. Sauté the onion 5 minutes until soft, add the kale, and cook 4-5 minutes until deep green and slightly crisped at the edges.

5. 5

   Season with nutmeg

   Stir the nutmeg, salt and pepper into the kale, then fold in the cooked barley and remaining butter until everything is coated.

6. 6

   Assemble the bowls

   Divide the barley-kale mixture between bowls, top with sliced sausage, and serve with a smear of Dutch mustard on the side.

Variations

• •

  With bacon: render diced bacon before sautéing the onion and use the rendered fat instead of butter.

• •

  Vegetarian: skip the sausage and add a fried egg with a runny yolk on top instead.

• •

  Mash-style: skip the barley entirely and serve the nutmeg kale over classic mashed potatoes for true stamppot.

Storage

Refrigerate up to 3 days in an airtight container. Reheat gently in a skillet with a splash of stock, since barley can dry out in the microwave.

Frequently Asked Questions