The Sardinian diet contains a lot of vegetables and is known for good helpings of barley and Pecorino, a sheep’s milk cheese. While not recreating a Sardinian dish, we’ve been inspired, for this hearty bean and barley stew, by those Sardinian ingredients. Warming and comforting, it’s filled with barley and convenient, protein-packed Borlotti beans and infused with flavour from carrots, onions, fennel, and herby thyme. It’s also packed with Italian lacinato kale for a healthy dose of greens.

Pecorino Romano

This sheep’s milk cheese is a staple of the Sardinian diet. Studies have shown that pecorino Romano contains considerable amounts of beneficial unsaturated fatty acids like omega-3 and conjugated linoleic acid. The milk for this cheese comes from sheep that graze on grass in mountain pastures in Sardinia, Italy. The cheese is made with an innesto, a type of lactobacilli culture, or starter, that is local to the area of production.

You may find cheese in the grocery store simply labelled Pecorino, so if you want the authentic version, look for the PDO (protected designation of origin) label, the guarantee of true pecorino Romano.